Perfectly Incompatible
by Defiant Vixen
Summary: A few of the mothers from his hometown think it’s time for him to settle down, but Michael can’t stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with her and ends up lost in a snow storm? :Michael/Kai, anti-OC, Fem!Kai:
1. Chapter 1

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** (Yeah, I've started a new title as I tend to rant quite a bit. At least now you get a warning before hand ^^). Don't you just love it when a Sue arrives on the scene and whenever she gets into a fight or disagreement with her love interest; everyone is always on her side? Even her love interest's friends are there for her because they know how much her boyfriend is a jerk and how utterly amazing she is for putting up with him! I tell you what; I would never choose a mate's partner over him/her. I'm protective of my friends and if I hear an ex talk badly about them, I go feral. Sorry, but that's just the way I am.

**AN:** Hello again, everyone. I have a new story here for you. I'm here, trying my hand at another pairing. Even Michael here had copped a few Sues in his life, but not nearly as many as poor Kai, Tala and Brooklyn. I am uncertain at how long this story will be, four or five chapters, perhaps even more. Let's just go with the flow at the moment.

Once again, all comments, suggestions and tips are greatly appreciated and will make my day, while flames will give a wonderful belly laugh. Thank you in advance and I hope you will enjoy my latest series.

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Chapter 1:

Rolling over in bed, it was strangely comforting to wake up to the familiar sight of his old bedroom he hid away in during his childhood. Everything was the same; even down to the lazily thrown about articles of clothing as he haphazardly looked for a clean set of clothing to wear for the day.

With a deep yawn, Michael reluctantly slipped his legs over the side of the bed, wincing at the cold early winter chill as it seeped into his bones. He had to resist the urge to turn around and fall back against the pillows, back into the warm comfort of his bed.

He was currently visiting his home town, a place where he grew up in under the loving guidance of his parents.

It's a small town, not much to do, not much to see, but he loved it growing up; everyone knew everyone, they were like a close knit family, always there whenever there was a crisis of some kind. His family home, which had been in the Parker name for generations, was quite old, yet was as warm and sturdy as it had ever been.

He was granted a few weeks off by the PPB so he decided to visit his family. However, things have changed and Michael dreaded visiting his mother and great aunt. Don't get him wrong, he missed his mother and great aunt's company dramatically, it was just his appearance always got the old town biddies talking; mostly about his lack of having a girlfriend. They wanted him to settle down with a nice girl, get married and start a family, but being the age of 18 years-old, marriage was the last thing on his mind.

Still, that would not stop the mothers in town from trying to coax him into getting dating a nice country town girl. And their favourite person to match him up with was a girl called Mariasha, his next door neighbour and biggest nuisance he had ever met.

They've know each other since third grade and she was a little hellion back then. He remembered vividly when he was eight; she got cranky with him and pushed him into a river because he wasn't paying her the attention she felt she deserved from him. She wanted his full and undivided attention all the time and would constantly follow him everywhere. He lost many friends because of her.

He couldn't stand the way Mariasha, aka Maria, acted. She was all sweetness and flowers in front of the women in town, but when it was just the two of them, she was the biggest control freak he had ever met. She made Emily seem like a quiet and shy young woman.

She loved to order him around constantly, saying things like; after we get married this and this will change.

He'd rather become a Monk, holed up in a cave somewhere than get married to her.

Even now, looking out his bedroom window, a cold shudder raced down his spine when he spied a young woman with dark purple hair that reached her elbows in a loose braid and sharp green eyes walk toward the front door of his childhood home. She was wearing clothes that were ridiculous for this time of year, the air so cold that it could snow any minute. She had on a pair of short denim shorts, laced up black thick heeled boots and a short sleeved blue blouse underneath a long dark brown jacket. As soon as she stepped inside, he knew that jacket would come off and she would look ever so pretty to everyone.

Sure, she had a great figure and all, but really, short shorts during winter storm season? She was not the brightest crayon in the box, was she?

He outwardly groaned and resisted the urge to repeatedly smash his head against the window sill. Not another full day of putting up with Mariasha's fake bubbliness.

He did not understand why the women in town thought she would be the perfect girl for him. She was supposed to make him want to stay in town and have lots and lots of babies, instead she made him want to flee town with just the shirt on his back.

Thankfully, though, his great aunt, who he saw as a grandmother, Irene, was not one of those women. She would tell him every time one of the biddies tried to talk him into dating Mariasha through a guilt trip that he was worth so much more and what he deserved was someone he loved, not someone people thought he should.

He loves Irene, who he called Nana all the time, very much. She was his support through the harsh times like when his father died of a brain tumour when he was ten, and she was his biggest advocate in following his dreams of becoming a pro blader. She was the reason why he was a blader today, and he'll forever be in her debt because of that.

It's just a shame that he had to go through so much irritation whenever he visited her due to the towns' folk unwilling to keep their noses out of his life.

Just because he didn't have a girlfriend, didn't mean his life was unfulfilled or meaningless.

"Michael! Mariasha's here to see you!"

Oh, the joy!

That was his mother, Marlene or Marly to everyone in town, calling for him, she, too, eager to see her son find a suitable young woman to spend his life with. It was almost as if his opinion didn't matter and that Mariasha had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

Gwad, she made him so sick sometimes.

He knew that his mother just wanted him to have a family of his own, just like every other mother on this planet, but couldn't she be a bit more supportive of his reluctance to want anything to do with Mariasha? He was adamant that he was not going to fall madly in love with her because the town biddies thought they made a good couple.

If anything, their interference was making him detest her even more.

She always had this smug look on her face whenever the town mother' cornered him, telling him what a nice girl Mariasha was and how beautiful she had grown.

If she was so nice, perfect and beautiful, why did they feel the need to remind him every goddamn day?!

Pulling on a set of warm clothing, Michael eyed the clouds outside his window and frowned at the dark greyness. Looked like the fierce winter storms were going to arrive early this year.

He had only been back in his home town a couple of days and he was already getting sick and tired of hearing about how wonderful Mariasha was. When he first arrived, one of the first people he saw just happened to be Mariasha. She looked him up and down before she smirked, giving a head toss to show off her luscious hair and made a comment about him finally filling out as he was a rather light and scrawny child when he was younger.

Of course, she said that when it was just the two of them, as soon as his mother appeared she was all giggly and was practically hanging off his arm like she was so excited to see him.

Even since then she had been over all the time, seeming around just for the sole purpose to be commented on how pretty her clothing was or how beautiful she looked with her hair out. Of course, his mother had to make things awkward when she'd turn to him and ask him whether or not he thought Mariasha looked beautiful today.

He once made a comment about it being too cold to be wearing hotpants, but that merely got him a scathing insult from Mariasha about him being a chauvinistic pig before stomping out in a huff, almost crying fake tears in an effort to make herself out to be the sweet and innocent girl he knew she was. He then got a lecture from his mother about being polite to woman and how it was best for the man to simply agree and compliment his _future-wife_ to make things easier between them.

Why, oh why did the biddies in town always take Mariasha's side? He had done more for their little town than she has, and yet she was the town's little darling. Could they not see she was playing on their fondness for her, or was he the only one who saw the real her, which was why she was so adamant of them getting married? She probably thought since they know each other so well, he'd let her be the obnoxious twit she really was and be content that only he was worthy enough of seeing the real her.

Thankfully, Nana was not a Mariasha fan and would promptly tell his mother to leave him alone and that he was being polite, he was merely commenting on his choice of clothing that was all. She was the first person to stand up for him whenever the town biddies talk about how mean and gruff he was with poor ol' Mariasha. Since Nana was the oldest woman in town, she was often looked upon as a monarch and if she said to stop badmouthing her Michael, then the women would shut up.

See why he loves Nana so much? And he made sure to let her know every day.

A suddenly concession of knocks at his door pulled Michael out of his thoughts and he turned to his bedroom door, hesitant to open it. There was only one person he knew that could make a simple act as knocking at his door into something he dreaded.

"What's the matter Michael?" Mariasha's voice suddenly drifted through his door. "Can't find your way out of your blankets?"

Michael gritted his teeth in annoyance when he heard the mocking in her voice. When he was younger, he was a skinny kid and his bed, a double was too big for him and he was sometimes so tangled up in the sheets that he had to literally fall out of bed to get free. Mariasha here found out one day by sneaking into his house and found him doing just that. Now, she would make fun of him whenever she could.

It was really starting to get on his nerves.

He was in no mood to deal with Mariasha so early in the morning and plotted a way to get around her. He was not interested in spending another day at home listening to Mariasha brag about she was the best at everything at school and how it was utterly brainless for him for put his education on the backburner while he chased his silly dream of becoming a pro-blader.

She really had no idea that he had to do school work as well. Judy made sure that their education did not suffer because of his chosen sport. He was actually the top of his year, and whenever he reminded her of that, she would merely huff and fold her arms, earning him a scowl from his mother.

He just could not win!

Settling with the plan of loitering around town for a few hours, Michael grabbed a bag, threw in a few extra articles of clothing in case a sudden storm hit and threw open his door, pushing passed a startled Mariasha. He then hurried down the stairs with his bag slung over his shoulder and bowled into the dining room where he knew Nana would be sitting with her cup of tea and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She seemed undisturbed by his sudden appearance, but then again, she had always been the type of woman to simply go with the flow.

"Morning," he said, trying his best to appear that he was in a real hurry and not wanting to give the girls a chance to question him.

"Morning dear," Nana said with a small smile, seemingly realizing what he was trying to do and decided to help him out. "You're going to be late."

"I know," Michael said as he flashed her a oh-so grateful smile and bolted passed his mother, pausing momentarily to give her a kiss good morning and goodbye before racing outside into the cold winter air. "Sorry, can't chat today. Busy!"

Without waiting for a response, he then jumped into his car and started the engine, the roar drowning out the protests. He glanced in the review mirror and pressed his lips into a thin line when he saw Mariasha attempt to stomp after him, an insult already forming on her lips, her face scrunched up into an expression in disgruntle astonishment. She was probably ready to demand to know where he was going, who he was seeing and what he was going to do.

Geez, did really she think that they would one day marry or something?

She was not girlfriend material, let alone marriage material. He just wished everyone else could see that he did not like her. She gave him nothing to like; she was not all sweetness and flowers like she portrayed herself to be to everyone else.

He never felt so relieved to see the rugged winding road then he was right then. He was certain that Mariasha would have a good cry on his mother's shoulder about him being a jerk and how she was trying so hard to change him, but he didn't care. He knew that she would get no sympathy from Nana.

It felt good to have at least one female in this town of his that was on his side and wanted what was best for him, not what everyone else thought was destined for him.

The trip into town was a relatively stress free one, other than his mobile phone ringing constantly, his home number flashing on screen. It was either his mother lecturing him again about blowing Mariasha off, or was Mariasha herself, ready to scream at him again, accusing him of being a jerk.

Pulling out the front of the local cafe, Michael decided to have a coffee to ease himself into the morning. Beside, the caffeine might lower his stress levels and he didn't have time to have breakfast.

But, as he stepped inside, in the welcoming warmth, his attention was pulled to a young woman sitting in the corner, paper on the table in front of her and a coffee in her hand. She had two-toned blue hair that cascaded loosely down her back, reaching the small of her back easily as light gray bangs delicately frame her bright blue face paint on her cheeks. Two deep ruby red eyes scanned the paper in front of her as she pressed the coffee cup to light pink lips.

Michael couldn't believe his luck! And he thought his day would suck.

He never thought he'd see her here, in a small country town, in a skirt no less. But there was no mistaken her, that young woman sitting in the cafe, dressed in a large thick jumper under a jacket with a scarf around her neck, a denim skirt that ended by her thighs and knee high boots that was made out of sheep wool was none other than Kai Hiwatari.

Many a fangirl had tried to pull off the female Kai look but all failed miserably as none of them were Kai, so they couldn't even come close. So this young woman was definitely Kai. Besides, he could just feel it in the air; a form of comfort and calmness that only she could bring.

Immediately, Michael made a beeline to her, wondering what would bring the great Kai Hiwatari to his neck of the woods.

It would be great if he could spend the day with her, rather than that pain in the ass, Mariasha.

"I wonder what brings her here," he muttered to himself as a smile graced his lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** Don't you just hate it when a Suethor writes a Mary Sue and then surround her with minor OCs, there for the sole purpose of reminding the reader over and over again how utterly amazing and special the Sue is, and how she's prefect for her love interest, even though he's a jerk and not worthy of her? If she was truly special and wonderful, we shouldn't need to be verbally told. Many Suethors fail one important rule of story writing; Show, don't tell. Then again, if the author was any good, she/he wouldn't be writing Sues in the first place!

**AN:** Hello again, everyone. How are you today? In this chapter we learn how Michael knows of Kai's gender and I hope you get a small chuckle out of it, it involves yet another cliché that was pointed out to me by G-Wing Gurl.

Thanks so much to my lovely readers; CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, mimic shalle, van, G-Wing Gurl, FlyingShadow666, angelvan105, MintCa, marishka91 and Moonstone for reviewing. Much appreciation to you all.

Any comments and suggestions are always received warmly, while flames are used for some belly laughs after a long day at work. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and don't be afraid to let me know what you think.

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Chapter 2:

Walking over to the unsuspecting female, Michael could not help but grin to himself as he remembered how Kai revealed her gender, not just to her teammates and fellow bladers, but to the entire planet!

It all started at a press conference at the BBA where Grev were involved. During question time, the room fell silent when a girl called Kairi stood up and asked Kai how he could abandon his unborn child and use her the way he did. Of course, the media immediately jumped on the story, firing off rapid questions to Kai about his relationship with Kairi.

Kai, of course, said there was no relationship, prompting Kairi to claim that she was pregnant with his child and how dare he try to get out of his responsibility to look after her.

Michael remembering watching on live TV in his Tokyo hotel room as Kai began to tremble with anger in his seat, his eyebrow twitching violently, in a way never seen before.

Abruptly taking to his feet, Kai narrowed his eyes, his expression dark; his jaw clenched tightly and said in a clear and steady voice that Kairi was not pregnant with his child for several reasons. He then proceeded to list those reasons; number one being that he had never seen Kairi before in his life. Two, he never knew she existed. Three, he would never jump into bed with a slut like her.

Yeah, he actually said slut, which got a few protests, but with the dark aura he was emitting at the time, no one dare say anything too harshly to him.

But number four really clenched the deal. Slowly, he unwound his scarf around his neck and slipped off his shirt, revealing thick bandages around _her_ chest. She then said in a loud, commanding voice that she was actually a girl in gender and was not even remotely romantically interested in girls what-so-ever.

Especially not attention seeking sluts who are merely trying to fulfil a sick fantasy of theirs.

And so, since he was in fact a she, there was no way that Kairi could be pregnant with her child!

After the initial shock wore off, Michael found himself laughing out loud with the rest of his teammates, even Emily thought it was hilarious as she was often the victim of jealous fangirls' rage.

The look of utter devastation on Kairi's face was a classic! Rick swore that if you slowed the picture down you could see her ego and sassiness shatter into a million shards in just five frames. It was so funny, especially of all the shit she was accusing Kai of. Kairi looked gutted and the media promptly turned on her, labelling her a harlot while trying to coax answers out of Kai as to why she had been hiding her gender.

However, Mr. Dickinson was left to answer all questions as Kai had slipped out the back to calm herself down, shirt still off and in her hand that was balled into a fist.

Kai hated losing her temper like that and she would feel bad afterwards, but it still made Michael laugh whenever he heard stories about Kai shattering yet another fangirl's dream of being Kai Hiwatari's soul mate or true love or chance of becoming the only female blader on either the team Grev or the Blitzkrieg Boys.

Tala once asked Kai if she wanted them to change their team to the Blitzkrieg Bladers, but Kai nearly threw a fit. She refused to let them change their name simply because she was a girl, which got a few chuckles from Tala. It was as if he was expecting that kind of response.

Funnily enough, it seemed that practically all the strange and deranged fangirls –even the mention of one- caused Kai to act insanely out of character.

She could not stand them and by all the stories that she had told him about the encounters male Kai had with them, Michael understood completely.

Back then he wasn't that close to Kai, but even he knew Kai wasn't an egotistical player, an abusive jackass, a demented rapist or someone who would drag an unconscious girl home instead of the hospital. With all the weirdos and maniacs in her life, she would be a lot more cautious.

Hell, anyone should be these days. Honestly, were these girls so naive that they thought men they didn't even know would treat them like princesses? If he woke up in a strange girl's house, he would be freaking out.

Really, though, where the _hell_ did those deranged idiots get those appalling character traits from, anyway? Why would they make up such crap just so people would feel sorry for them?

Michael must admit, though, Kai was funny when she was irritated or annoyed about something she was passionate about. Her eyebrow would twitch dangerously when she was annoyed, but when she was pissed, her whole body twitched with suppressed rage. Depending on the circumstances, she would either give the person annoying her –usually a fangirl- a scathing, soul-crushing, make your heart stop beating verbal smack down that would sting for weeks afterwards!

But if words didn't get the point across, a glare of blatant hatred followed by an utterly painful backhand usually did the trick.

Kai was not a violent person by any stretch of the imagine, she was just passionate about what she believed in and she absolutely hated it when people told blatant lies to either make themselves appear more important and special than they really are, or to win the sympathy vote from the people around them.

However, he didn't like it when Kai became so infuriated, like with Kairi, that her body would tremble for about an hour or so, depending on how angry she was, afterwards. She would deliver a scathing insult, easily pointing out all faults in such a way that left no room to argue and then stalk off to calm down. Her hands would tremble and she would appear like she was actually shivering intensely from the cold.

Kai was not very good at keeping such intense emotions in check outside the Beydish, so she really hated getting angry like that. It didn't happen often, but it was enough to leave her rattled.

No one knew of that little fact, so how did Michael know? After her revealing and confrontation of Kairi on TV, he went for a walk and found her sitting on some stone steps in an alley way, her head and in her hands, her body shivering as her shirt sat idle on her lap.

When he approached her, she was a little embarrassed by what happened, but didn't want to talk about it, and Michael respected that. If Kai said she didn't want to talk about it, than no one made her. Besides, what was there to talk about, they all knew Kairi was just an attention seeking brat who didn't care who she hurt to get into the limelight.

Sitting there in that alley way, Michael could not help but note how oddly vulnerable Kai was and how those brats actually affected her. By the look on her face when Kairi stood up with those grossly unrealistic claims, those events happened far too often. It's no wonder Kai snapped the way she did.

Hell, even Michael himself had been on the receiving end of some wild accusations himself, mostly from girls who claim to be his high school sweetheart, or some shit like that. They pranced up to him and hung off his arm like he was suppose to know them or something. When he asked who the hell they were, they would get all snotty and huffy with him, accusing him of forgetting about them.

Really, how could he forget someone he never knew?

With nothing but sympathy, not pity, in his chest, Michael took off his jacket and placed it around Kai shoulders as he sat silently with her as she calmed down to the point that she was no longer shaking.

He didn't asked why Kai she was concealing her gender for so long, but with a history like hers, he didn't need to. Kai was unforthcoming about anything in her past, usually just giving a short explanation of either Boris or Voltaire and then mutter darkly under her breath with a faraway look in her eyes.

He didn't know how long they sat there as Kai grasped at his jacket with her shaking hands, but he did learn of why Kai shook the way she did. He wasn't sure why she felt the need to tell him why, maybe it was because she wanted to explain her weakness so he wouldn't think badly of her and tell everyone later on.

Not that he would. It was oddly refreshing realizing that Kai was not the invincible stoic Beyblade captain that everyone thought; she was human as well.

Pausing by the counter to order a cup of coffee and a toasted sandwich, Michael slipped into a seat at Kai's table, causing the female to look up from her paper, her red eyes widening with recognition and she reeled back slightly in surprise.

"Hey Kai," Michael greeted with a half-smirk, half-smile at her reaction.

"Michael?" Kai said, as if she didn't quite believe that he was here, in a small town, practically in the middle of nowhere. Talk about a small world.

"What are you doing here?" he asks as a petite middle-aged woman walked over to their table and placed the food that Michael ordered in front of him, giving the two a small smile and seemingly raised an eyebrow in questioning at Michael as to why he was talking with this strange girl and not making wedding plans with Mariasha.

Yeah, this country mum was also a Mariasha fan. When she tells the other mothers, shit will be hitting the fan. Not that he cared anymore, it was just an irritant and he had to suffer through those looks of disproval whenever he came to town.

"I could ask you the same question," Kai said as she got over her shock a little and placed her coffee back on the table, folding her arms as she leaned forward. Truth be told, it was actually kinda nice to see a familiar face amongst the sea of strangers.

"I'm visiting my mother for a few weeks," Michael explained as he took a sip of his coffee and grabbed his breakfast, eager to have at least something in his empty stomach.

Pushing the plate over to Kai's side of the table, he offered her the other half of his sandwich. She didn't want it, but he kept offering it, so Kai took it to save yet another argument about how she wasn't eating enough and took a small bite, much to Michael's approval.

Swallowing the small bite, Kai gave him a small look of surprise. "Oh, this is your home town?"

"That's right," Michael said with a small smile, one that quickly took a teasing edge to it. "What about you? Still hiding from the media after that 'coming out' incident in Tokyo?"

"Don't remind me," Kai groaned and appeared as if she wanted to drop her head onto the table in slight disgust. She then shook her head to clear it of the memories, the silverly gray tresses floating almost elegantly before her eyes.

Michael took a moment to study Kai a bit further and was amazed at how soft her hair looked when it was not in the usual spiky style she adorned when she was dressing as a guy. It framed her face delicately, giving off a slightly just out of bed look, but seemed elegant and natural on her.

"At least it stopped the fangirls from throwing themselves at me," Kai continued, trying to look on the bright side.

Michael quickly swallowed the bite of his sandwich and laughed out loud, finding Kai's response to the whole ordeal oddly typical of her. While she was not an optimist, she most certainly was not a pessimist, either. She just liked to deal with things and then move on.

"If only we were all that lucky, huh?" he said, which earned him a smile from the young woman. Kai's smile were normally small, yet were meaningful. When she smiled, she meant it. Nothing like those fake, sickly-sweet smiles Mariasha used to get her way all the time.

"Where are you staying?" he asked as he finished his sandwich and was now sipping his still hot coffee. "In town at the hotel?"

"No," Kai said as she shook her head, surprising herself when she realized that she actually ate the sandwich Michael gave her. "I went through Voltaire's records and realized that I owned a ranch here. It needs a little TLC, but it's liveable. It gives me something to do while the media hype dies down."

Michael found himself frowning slightly, not exactly liking the idea of Kai being on her own on a ranch somewhere. He then realized that his day might not be a total lost; if Kai was fixing the ranch up, she might need a bit of help with something.

Besides, he would get to see if the ranch Kai was living in was actually liveable. She had a tendency to downplay a lot of things. "Do you need a hand with anything?" he asked.

"Sure, if you want to help," Kai said as she gave a small shrug, seemingly expecting Michael to ask if she needed any help. That was just a part of his nature and it would be nice to have someone there to give her a hand if she needed any.

Living with her teammates Grev for so long had made Kai acceptable to loneliness. The silence of being out on that ranch all by herself was almost deafening. And it had only been a couple of days!

"Nothing major needs fixing, just the garden. I haven't been out into the back garage yet. I shudder to think what I would find there."

"I see," Michael hummed as he took another sip of his coffee. "Well, no point in tackling the garden now. Snow season is just around the corner."

"Yes, I realized that when the frost was getting thicker in the mornings," Kai said as she placed her now empty coffee cup on the table, near Michael's empty plate. "How bad are the winter storms here?"

Michael winced at the memories of almost getting cabin fever for staying inside so long from childhood. "Some of the worst I've encountered."

"I see," Kai said with a frown and then sighed lightly, almost making her long for the mother country, Russia. "Well, at least my house will be warm and secure if anything should happen. I'm actually in town to pick up a few things like drapes and such, you know, make the place look a bit homely."

"Oh, well then I'll give you a hand," Michael quickly offered as he was eager to do something more constructive than hiding from his neighbour all day long. "I've got nothing planned for the day anyway."

Kai tilted her head to the side in question. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, give me something to do," he said, trying his best to stop himself from actually begging. Chances are Mariasha doesn't know Kai or that she has a ranch here, so it was perfect for Michael to hide at all day if needed.

"Alright then," Kai said as she gave him another small smile. "Thank you."

"How long have you been in town now?" Michael asked as soon after her unveiling at Tokyo, Kai disappeared from sight, everyone assuming she was hiding from the media vultures that were hovering about everywhere.

Kai ran her hand through her hair in thought. "About a week? Some of the women here have been watching over me. They're quite nice, if not a little nosy, if you know what I mean..."

"Believe me; I know exactly what you mean," Michael said through gritted teeth and gave her a forced smile. "Why don't I show you around?"

"Sure," Kai said as she leaned down and grabbed a small shoulder bag and placed it on her shoulder. "You can tell me some embarrassing stories about your childhood," she lightly teased.

Michael gave a somewhat shaky laugh and scratched the back of his head. "That will take all day," he replied.

A soft look appeared on Kai's face as she took to her feet. "I loved to hear them," she said, giving Michael the indication that she didn't want to know because she thought they would be great blackmail material later on, but because she was genuinely curious. She didn't have the best childhood, so it was nice to hear about other's carefree childhoods.

Michael gave her a charming smile and took to his feet as well. He gathered the dirty dishes and cups and took them over to the counter. "We're leaving now, thanks for the coffee!" he said as he turned to leave.

"No problem there, Love," the woman said as she gave them a wave and a smile. "Say hi to Mariasha for me."

Michael bit down on the inside of his mouth to stop himself from groaning and rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Sure..." he muttered and took Kai by the elbow, hurrying the both of them outside.

Kai was slightly surprised by Michael's reaction, but let him take her elbow none the less. Even when they stepped outside, he didn't remove his hand and she could tell he was annoyed about something, and that name that was mentioned had something to do with it.

"Who's Mariasha?" she asked, surprised by a foreign feeling of jealously when she realized that it was a girl's name, but she quickly pushed that aside and focused her attention on him again.

"My next door neighbour and she's a royal pain in the ass," Michael said as he gave a long suffering sigh and slowed down, his hand slipping from Kai's elbow to the small of her back so he could lean forward and whisper into her ear.

In a town like this, ears of meddling mothers were everywhere.

"All the town biddies think we would make the perfect couple," he explained

"I see," Kai said as she gave him a sympathetic look, feeling slightly relieved that she wasn't his girlfriend or something.

"I can't stand her," Michael carried onto say as he gave another suffering sigh. "She makes my skin crawl."

"Why?" Kai asked, curious that the usually laid back Michael was so annoyed about something. "What has she done? Be completely honest with me, you know I won't get offended."

"God, where do I start?" Michael muttered as he subconsciously held out his arm for Kai to hook hers through, which she surprisingly did and then the two begin to walk in the morning light, their heads leaning toward each others as Michael begin to tell tales about all the things Mariasha has done to annoy him.

And there was a lot to talk about.


	3. Chapter 3

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**AN:** My goodness, thanks so much to; CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, mimic shalle, DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, Miako6, Tony, van, angelvan105, Lhune, marishka91, FlyingShadow666, spoon and Elemental Gypsy for reviewing! That's 14 reviews for one chapter, I never thought I'd ever seen that many at once. Thank you all so very much.

And thanks for letting know about all the OC clichés that annoy you, please keep them coming. I shall now add OC team of girls and Mr. Dickinson's granddaughter/niece to the already long list.

Comments, suggestions, ideas or rants are all appreciated. Thanks so much once again.

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Chapter 3:

Michael was not the type to become paranoid about anything; he was normally cool and complacent about a lot of things. And yet, as he walked in the gradually warming morning light, arm in arm with one Kai Hiwatari, he could feel eyes on them from every direction. The eyes seemed to be curious, yet some of them were shocked and hostile even.

Discreetly peering out from the corner of his eye, he noticed that one of the town biddies was literally spying on them from her shop window. She was peering out through the blinds with a cup of coffee in one hand and a phone in the other, talking quickly.

Oh, word gets around this town quite quickly. No doubt the mother from the cafe rang her friends to tell them about his cosy little breakfast with Kai. About how friendly they were to each other and how they shared a sandwich between them.

That little fact alone was sure to get the mothers' talking up a storm. Most of their conversation was sure to be about poor Mariasha and how she was a sweet girl, and how he was an utter jerk for not realizing how truly special she was to him.

They could talk all they want. He doesn't care anymore. He had Nana on his side, telling him to remain firm in what he truly wanted from life and not to give in.

As he showed Kai around his home town, he stopped ever once in a while to tell her a particular memory a certain sight brought and even earned himself a few quite chuckles from her, which was quite a feat at Kai rarely laughed openly. It actually showed him that she was comfortable in his presence. He was entirely sure why, maybe it was because he proved that he was trustworthy when he learnt of Kai's self-hatred for her anger and how it affected her, by not telling anyone.

Stepping into the small playground that was currently empty, he confided in Kai about everything that annoyed him about Mariasha and the town biddies without fear of someone over hearing them. He was literally ranting and raving, and all Kai was doing was listen intently with a saint like patience. They still had their arms hooked together and leaning in close. Surprisingly, Kai said nothing about their closeness and Michael assumed it was because she knew that they were being watched with studying gazes as well.

Ears are everywhere.

"Ah," Kai said as Michael finished yet another story about how a few of the mothers' tried desperately for him and Mariasha look at a few wedding magazines that just happened to arrive by post and was delivered to the wrong address. "So everyone is playing matchmaker for the two of you?"

"Something like that," Michael murmured seemingly through gritted teeth before he shook his head and gave a tiny smile. "Thank God Nana is on my side at least."

He told Kai all about Nana, telling her stories about how Nana helped him avoid Mariasha and the biddies, and about how she was classed as the monarch of the town. She was probably the reason why he hasn't been dragged to the alter and ordered to marry Mariasha yet.

Nana was such a strong, yet compassionate and caring woman. Nothing like Mariasha, who was way too egotistical and domineering.

"Mariasha has everyone wrapped around her little finger with her fake giggles and overly bubbliness," Michael said as he rolled his eyes, sounding bitter. "She's such a _sweet_ girl."

"But why Mariasha?" Kai asked quietly with a genuine look of confusion on her face. After everything Michael had told her about the _perfect girl_ for him, she could see nothing that warranted the biddies' attempts to get the two of them together. It was obvious that the attraction between the two childhood friends was one sided. Mariasha was the one pursuing Michael, and he was trying his best to avoid her.

Really, where did they get the idea that the two of them would be perfect for each other?

"Is it because she's your next door neighbour or something to that extent?" she asked. It was a stupid excuse, and yet the only one she could think of that made any sense.

Michael paused for a moment as he too wondered where this idea came from as well. He could not think of anything that warranted such matchmaking attempts. If Mariasha was such a sweet and innocent girl and he was a wild adventurer (Yes, they actually refer to him as that. Wanting to be a pro-blader did not make him a rebel with a chip on his shoulder), and she was far too good for him, why the hell are they trying so hard to get them together?

"I really don't know where they got the idea from to tell you the truth," he muttered after a moment of silence. "We've never gotten along. She's a pest, nothing more."

"Maybe they think that since she's a sweet country girl, she can tame your wandering ways," Kai suggested as she shrugged her shoulder lightly.

Michael leaned in a bit closer and whispered into her ear. "She's making me want to flee town," he muttered darkly.

The corner of Kai's mouth twitched into a small, sympathetic smile. "Sounds like a plot from one of those romance novels Hilary reads."

"She likes romance books?" Michael asked as he tilted his head to the side in question as the two of them began a gentle stroll around the park.

"Not really," Kai said as her smile turned into a smirk. "She likes to, what was that word again, spork? Yeah, that's it. She likes to spork the crap out of them. Picking it to pieces and making fun of all the silly clichés. It's a hobby of hers."

"Sounds like an interesting hobby," Michael said as he laughed lightly. Somehow, he could just imagine Hilary with a romance book in her hands and pointing out all the clichés as she laughed dryly. "Yeah, I bet Mariasha and the ol' biddies are romance novel fans as well."

A very light chuckle passed Kai's lips and she nodded. "Sounds plausible."

Michael shook his head and gave a wryly smile as he found himself thinking about his pain in the neck, aka, Mariasha and grimaced. "She's gotten worse since my father died."

Immediately, Kai physically reeled back and looked up at him with her ruby red eyes shimmering with a sense of surprise. "Your father?"

"My father died about eight years ago of a blood clot on the brain," Michael explained as he gave he a slightly pained look. The memory of his father's passing was still painful for him and he really didn't like talking about it too much.

Since his father's passing, Mariasha immediately offered her comfort, telling him that his father would want the two of them to be together. For heaven's sake, she said that the day after he died. The last thing Michael was thinking of was finding a stupid wife at the age of ten!

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kai said softly, genuine sympathy in her voice and expression as she placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it lightly. "That must have been hard. Especially at that age."

"Yeah," Michael said with a mild sense of gratitude in his voice when Kai didn't ask him for a detailed description of his feelings. "But Nana was there for me."

"You talk a lot about Nana, you must really love her," Kai said in a somewhat soothing tone. Her voice was relaxing and seemed to effortlessly bring down any guard Michael had.

"She's my rock," he tells her and he found himself smiling ever so softly as he looked up toward the sky. "She keeps me grounded."

"She sounds amazing."

A hint of pride appeared in Michael's chest, somewhat happy in knowing that someone else thinks Nana is amazing as well. And for Kai to say it, it meant a lot to him. She wasn't good with compliments, but when she gave them, she really meant it. Her words are never hollow or empty.

"Yeah, she's something," he said. "I think the two of you would get along well."

"You think so?" Kai said in slight surprise before a smile appeared on her lips again. "I'd actually like to meet her. She sounds just like what my grandmother used to be."

"I'd be lost without her," he said before he lifted his arm and scratched the back of his neck, a slight look of embarrassment on his face. "That sounded corny, didn't it?"

"Not at all," Kai was quick to reassure him. "I think it's great that you have someone like her in your life."

Now that Michael thought about it, she's right. Despite everything that has happened to him, he made through it all because Nana believed in him. He's certainly lucky to have someone like her in his life. "That's true."

"My parents died about ten years ago," Kai suddenly said, her eyes taking on a faraway glaze to them. "A car accident, a drunk driver was speeding and cut them off, causing my father to swerve to avoid hitting her, but ended up in the path of an on-coming semi truck. They were both killed instantly."

Michael's eyes immediately widen in shock and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at the young woman and his heart went out to her as she was holding onto his arm in an almost death grip and continued to look forward. He wanted so desperately to hug her and tell her that she'll be fine, but he knows he cannot do that. He wasn't sure if Kai would accept his attempt of comfort or if she was willing to re-open old wounds by him doing so.

Instead, he ended up placing his hand over her hand on his arm, holding it gently. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly.

His words seemed to pull Kai out of a trance and she shook her head slightly and smiled softly. "So am I," she said softly and they took a moment to gaze at each other in a sense of understanding, their eyes revealing past hurts before Kai abruptly tugged on his arm to make them start walking again.

"Anyway, subject change," she said quickly, not wanting either of them to fall into an emo like state as it was just too nice of a morning to be depressed. The sun was peeking out through the gray clouds, warming the two of them as they walked in the morning light.

Besides, Kai was certain neither of their departed loves ones would want them to brood and mope all day. "Where's that homewares store you were telling me about earlier."

Michael took a moment to marvel at Kai's inner and emotional strength. It was obvious that her parents passing still affected her, but she seemed determined not to let it slow her down or stop her from living. She was quite inspirational.

A smile returned to his lips as he led her to the shop on the other side of the street. "Right this way."

Pushing open the door that had a bell attached to it to let the shop owner know that they had customers, Michael let Kai step in first, earning himself a small look of amusement at his chivalry and he smile cheekily at her as he followed in after her.

The shop was filled with curtain material of many kinds, as well as the tools needed to hang up the desired curtains.

"I'll be with you in a minute!" A woman's voice called out and Michael couldn't help but wince when he recognized the voice as being one of the town's mothers.

"See anything you like?" he asked Kai as she studied the already made curtains hanging neatly from a rack, curtains made from all different kinds of materials. She ran her fingers over the pieces of cloth gently.

"I'm not sure of which colour I should chose," Kai explained with a slight frown as she took a moment to look at all the colours. "The interior of the ranch is mostly made from rich wood, so maybe something rich and dark would be best."

Michael also took a moment to regard all the material and felt his eyes drawn to a colour near the end of the rack and promptly pulled it out. "Hmm, how about this colour?" he said as he presented Kai a curtain made of thick material with light rubber backing and was a deep mahogany in colour.

Kai walked over to him and gently trailed her fingers over the fabric. "Hmm, that would actully be perfect for the lounge room," she murmured as she lifted her eyes off the piece of homeware and sent Michael a soft look of amusement. "You're good at this."

Michael laughed lightly and was about to respond when a woman of about middle age appeared, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She had short blonde hair held back by a red headband and soft brown eyes. A smile was on her lips, but it faltered ever so slightly when she realized that Michael was in her store, and was actually shopping for homeware with a girl that was not Mariasha.

"Oh, morning Michael," she said as she tried not to sound surprised by his appearance. She had heard word from her fellow mothers that Michael was getting cosy with the new girl in town, but she really didn't believe it. Until now...

"What brings you here?" she asked as she eyed Michael's companion discreetly. The young woman had a quite unusual appearance; two toned blue hair has was long at the back, but her bangs framed her face in layers. Her eyes was an unusual colour; a deep red, almost wine or ruby in colour and had four bright blue tribal type markings on her face.

She must admit, though, Michael's companion had this exotic, gypsy like appearance to her and she carried herself well, her figure proportioned perfectly and seemed to be quite fit and healthy, even a bit slender for someone of her height. She was beautiful...

Of course, she couldn't compete with Mariasha's natural beauty.

"I'm helping out my friend here," Michael said, stressing the word friend tightly as he knew she was studying Kai intently. He turned to Kai and beckoned her over to the counter with him. "Kai, this is Mrs. Michelson, she worked in this home ware store for years, I'm pretty sure she'll have everything you need."

Kai bowed her head ever so slightly and offered the older woman a small, polite smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mrs Michelson wore a look of surprise before she smiled brightly as well. This Kai girl seemed to be quite nice and Michael did say she was just a friend. However, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something different about this girl. Her presence seemed fresher, lighter. In a town where everyone knew everyone and everything that happened, it felt somewhat refreshing to see a different face amongst the familiar ones.

Oh, she'll give her and other mothers' something else to talk about!

"My, aren't you a polite one? It's nice to meet you too," she said as she placed the clothe she was hold in her hand away and gave the two teens her full attention. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm restoring the old Orchid ranch on the outskirts of town," Kai explained as she dug around in her bag and pulled out a photo, showing it to the two locals with her.

"That's a big job, hun," Mrs Michelson said with a frown on her lips. She really didn't like the thought of a petit and defenceless young woman like Kai here to be out on a ranch all by herself. Anything could happen all the way out there. "Are you doing it all by yourself?"

"I'll be fine," Kai was quick to reassure, not liking it at all when people fuss over her for any reason. "It's in good shape; all it needs is a tender touch."

"I'll be giving her a hand," Michael said, hoping that his offering of assistance would dull the motherly instinct that resides in all the town's biddies.

Mrs Michelson blinked slowly, seemingly taking a moment to realize what Michael just said. "Really?"

"Yes, he offered and I couldn't say no," Kai explained and peered out a Michael from the corner of her eye, unable to resist the temptation to tease him just a little. "Besides, it would be nice to have a big strong man to do all the hard work."

Michael laughed and poked her on the cheek. "You're probably stronger than me," he said, knowing all too well of the legends regarding Kai's strength. Who else is capable of pulling both Tyson and Daichi away from an all you can eat buffet table at once.

Kai snorted lightly and playfully smacked his hand away. "Not if you ask the others. They all think I'm scrawny and need to drastically put on some weight."

Michael was silent for a moment and seemed to ponder that. "You do need to put some meat on those bones," he ended up saying, to which Kai bristled lightly.

"Not you, too?" she moaned in annoyance.

Mrs Michelson found herself lingering in the back ground at the two youngsters continued to banter in front of her. No, not banter, dare she say subconsciously flirt? The quips were light and teasing, their words meaning no harm whatsoever.

For as long as she has known Michael, which was his whole life, she had never seen him act like this with anyone before, especially not with Mariasha. He looked so happy and carefree at the moment, and it surprised her. He was really comfortable in Kai's presence it seemed.

Hmm, maybe the two of them could be more than friends? They seemed to have more chemistry that he and Mariasha. Of course, she better not say that out loud to anyone...

Before she could stop herself, Mrs Michelson found herself nodding in approval at Michael's offering, believing that this would do him some good.

"Well, I think it will be good for young people like you to take responsibility in restoring a house," she said with a smile. "Who knows, you two might become property developers when you get older."

Funnily enough, Kai had thought of the same thing a while ago. As much as she loved blading, she also loved getting her hands dirty as well. And now that she's the owner of Voltaire's vast estate, she certainly had her hands full. If Michael was interested, he might be able to help her on future restoring ventures.

"That is a possibility," Kai replied with a small smile.

"Now, let's see what I can help you with."


	4. Chapter 4

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** …An American abbey, huh? That's just…I simply can't put it into words. I don't know what to say. There are no words for such…shit! I'm sorry, I'm speechless. I don't want to know where this idea came from. I bet the American abbey is far worse and evil than the Bio-volt run in Russia, am I right? Good God, Suethor these days…

**AN:** Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed as well as letting know of other clichés. I can't wait to try my hands on them. Again, thanks to; kaitouahiru, DarkBombayAngel, mimic shalle, G-Wing Gurl, Rapunzelle, CleverPhoenix, marishka91, angelvan105, van, Tony and Elemental Gypsy. Please enjoy this next chapter.

Don't be afraid to comment and send me more of those unbelievable, annoying or downright deluded clichés. Keep 'em coming! I don't mind a few rants ^^

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Chapter 4:

As she guided the two teens through the array of curtain material and products, Mrs Michelson found herself lingering silently in the background, watching as Michael and his friend, Kai, speak comfortably with each other. They were currently discussing what shade of blue would complement the cream coloured walls in the kitchen of Kai's ranch.

Young Kai was describing in great detail the layout of the kitchen and dining room and Michael was listening intently, nodding his head at all the right places. But what was most intriguing was the way Michael would place his hand on the small of Kai's back when he decided to show her something.

It was interesting to observe the two as they interacted; they must be really good friends.

It surprised her how someone so young could own and live in a ranch all by herself, but the way Kai walked around her shop, picking out things without even looking at the prices, tells her that Kai here had quite a bit of money for spending.

So, not only was she independent, capable of looking after herself and willing to get her hands dirty, she must also be highly intelligent and money wise. She didn't posses this rich-snob aura that a lot of young rich kids did. She seemed to realize that life isn't all about money and was actually using that money for a good course.

And let's not forget the fact that she made Michael, usually weary about other girls in fear that he might upset Mariasha, comfortable enough to playfully banter with her in another's presence. Mrs Michelson had never, ever seen Michael like this before in her life! It was actually quite pleasant to see him like he was; like a normal teen for once.

There seemed to be more to this young woman than meets the eye.

Placing a roll of curtain material into a bag, she could not stop the small feeling of guilt in her chest. Maybe it was wrong of her to make Michael see how wonderful Mariasha was. Maybe if they were truly meant to be, Michael would just have learn it on his own.

What if he didn't like Mariasha like he claimed? He most certainly would not be seen picking out curtain material with Mariasha, he would barely help her pick up any groceries.

But Mariasha is such a good, pretty girl; your typical sweet and caring girl next door. She would be good for Michael...Right?

A frown made its way onto her lips when she heard Michael release a laugh at something Kai said and realized that she wasn't even able to convince herself that Mariasha was a good match for him anymore. She didn't make him laugh like that, she never did.

Suddenly, a shrill noise of a ring tone pierced through the comfortable atmosphere that had overtaken the home wear store. Michael rolled his eyes when he recognized the tone and wondered if he should answer it or not. After all the calls he missed this morning, he probably should answer it. It could be very important.

Or it could be Mariasha calling him everything under the sun again for being a heartless jerk.

"Sorry," Michael said as he pulled out his phone from his pocket, a grimace appearing on his face when he recognized the number. With a sigh he flipped it open and turned to Kai, an apologetic look on his face. "It's my phone. I'll be back in a minute."

"Ok," Kai said with a slight nod of understanding and waved her hand to silently tell him not to apologize. "I'm nearly done here, anyway."

"I'll wait outside," Michael murmured as he pressed the answer button and stepped outside, only to reef the phone away from his ear a moment later.

Kai watched with a sense of sympathy as Michael pressed the phone to his ear again and began walking back and forth, realizing that it might be Mariasha on the phone. Or maybe even his mother, scowling him for running out on Mariasha like he did this morning. Yeah, he told her how he just bolted out the door, not wanting to deal with his neighbour's _cheerfulness_ so early in the morning.

"You and Michael are good friends?" Mrs Michelson suddenly asked, her voice pulling Kai out of her thoughts.

Kai nodded her head a little and offered a small smile. "You could say that."

"How did the two of you meet?"

"During a tournament," Kai replied as she picked up a navy blue material and walked over to the counter, offering another smile when she noticed a look of confusion on the older woman's face. "I'm a blader as well."

"Oh, how interesting," the town mother said as he eyes widen slightly in surprise and nodded her head. Well, that explained how the two of them got on so well. Mariasha wasn't a blader, she wasn't even a fan of the sport, so that was probably one of the reasons why she and Michael often clashed.

Still, that didn't give Michael the right to be rude to her as she often claimed he was...even though she, herself, had never heard Michael say a bad thing about anyone. Only Mariasha.

"He's a good boy, Michael," Mrs Michelson says as she takes the bundle of material out of Kai's arms and places it on the counter for her to remove the price tag. "Very helpful and willing to lend a hand for any reason. The women in town adore him."

"He is a nice guy," Kai says as her smile grew a little bit warmer. It was always nice to hear someone say nice things about one of her fellow bladers, as being a blader was more hard work than a lot of people gave them credit for.

Just like anything else in life, Beyblade took a lot of hours to practice, train, compete and study their opponents as well as their teammates' moves. Anyone who was a blader had a high level of intelligence in some form or another.

Yes, that included Tyson and Daichi as well.

"He's intelligent too," she added as she dug around in her bad and pulled out her purse to pay for her products. "Top of his class, which is impressive, especially when the PPB teaches over five hundred kids how to blade a year."

"Really?" Mrs Michelson said in disbelief. Mariasha never mentioned anything about Michael being in a high performer in school. She always said that he didn't understand the pressures of studying as he was a blader, nothing more. He left school here at the age of 15 to join the PPB in America. She had no idea that Michael continued his schooling at all.

That was quite remarkable! Why didn't he say anything?

Wait, maybe he did and Mariasha...No, Mariasha is a good girl. She wouldn't put Michael down like that to make herself sound more important. It just wasn't in her nature to do something like that.

"I didn't know that," Mrs Michelson said in earnest. "He never said anything."

"He's proud of what he has achieved," Kai informed her, not at all surprised that she doesn't know. From what Michael has told her about Mariasha, she doesn't like it when others around her appear more successful or more educated. Mariasha probably went around telling everyone that Michael was just a brainless jock with a Beyblade and he was lucky to have someone like her to hold his hand through life most important things.

"He doesn't like to brag," Kai continued. "But he is very talented."

"Oh, we have a genius on our hands. How lovely!" Mrs Michelson practically squealed in delight and clapped her hands in front of her. She could not wait to tell the girls this piece of information. No one in town had any idea that Michael was this talented. Sure, they knew he was intelligent and skilful, but to be the top blader in the PPB, now that was something!

Did Mariasha know of this?

Suddenly thinking of the young purple haired woman, Mrs Michelson was startled by the mild sense of disappointment. Surely, if they were as close as Mariasha claimed they were, she would have known this. And if she did, why didn't she say anything? Shouldn't she be utterly delighted how amazing Michael was?

Come to think of it, everything Mariasha said about Michael was degrading in some way. She hardly had a nice thing to say about him.

Maybe Michael deserved someone unlike Mariasha after all...

"Though, it would be nice for him to find a nice girl to settle down with," she found herself saying without really meaning to.

"I'm sure he will find someone when he's ready," Kai said patiently as she handed over her credit card. "You can't force these things to happen."

"I know," Mrs Michelson replied with a tired smile, punching up the price of the products and using the card to pay for them. "We're not getting anywhere with Mariasha."

Upon hearing that name, Kai found herself pressing her lips into a thin line, frustration bubbling in her chest. "Hm?"

"Oh," Mrs Michelson said as she realized that Kai might not know of the famous Mariasha. "Mariasha is a nice local girl that we're trying to set Michael up with, but he's just not interested in settling down yet. I don't know why, Mariasha's such a nice, intelligent and beautiful young woman..."

Kai found herself tilting her head to the side in mild questioning. Funny, it seemed like Mrs Michelson was trying to convince herself of Mariasha's greatness more so then to her.

-------------------------------

Snapping his phone shut, Michael grumbled under his breath. Yep, just as he suspected, it was his mother, giving him a stern talking to about manners and how it was utterly rude of him for taking off like he did that morning. Of course, every second sentence had the words; poor Mariasha in them.

A sense of anger appeared in the pit of his stomach. He hated how his own mother seemed to always choose Mariasha over him, her own son!

Looking over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening, a smile made its way onto his lips when Kai stepped out into the morning air, in her arms a few bags and things. "Got everything?" he asked, taking a few of the bags from her arms.

"Yeah," Kai said as she shifted her bag onto her shoulder and waved into the store. She then turned a pair of red eyes of mild amusement in his direction. "I even got the mandatory praising of Mariasha."

Michael outwardly groaned, his eyes almost rolling to the back of his head." Let me guess, she's a nice, intelligent and beautiful young woman with so much ahead of her or something like that?"

"Just the nice, intelligent and beautiful part," Kai said as a light chuckle passed her lips as the two of them then began walking, heading to Kai's car that was still parked out the front of the cafe. Once again, they could feel eyes watching them, but neither of the two cared very much.

They were both famous bladers after all; they could handle a few town biddies gossiping about them. Well, if Kai's presence in town helped to ward off the attempts to get poor ol' Michael together with Mariasha, then that was fine by her. Michael truly was a nice guy, he deserved so much more.

"But I think they're starting to realize that you're not interested in Mariasha as Mrs. Michelson said that they were getting nowhere with the two of you," Kai said as the two finally reached her car, a large four wheel drive, perfect for driving through snowy conditions.

"Oh God, please let it be true!" Michael said as he placed the bags he was carrying into the back of Kai's back. He then shut the boot and turned to Kai. "What now?"

Kai shrugged lightly. "Probably go home and work on these curtains."

"Can I come?" Michael asked, not wanting to go home just yet and also eager to see Kai's living accommodation. "I'm eager to see this ranch of yours."

"Sure, if you have nothing else to do," Kai said as a soft smile appeared on her lips, half expecting Michael to ask. She wanted him to, but wasn't comfortable in outright asking him herself as she didn't particularly want to deal with a rejection if he had something else important to do.

"I don't think Mariasha can find you out on the ranch, will she?" she added with a teasing tone.

Michael wearily glanced over his shoulder with shifty eyes. "You never know," he murmured and to which Kai barely suppressed a chuckle. He then turns to her and pulled out his own car keys. "Lead the way, and I'll follow you in my car, ok?"

"Sure."

-------------------------------

Driving onto the dirt road leading up to a sprawling, single level mansion size estate, Michael was pleasantly surprised by how big the place was. It was a typical style ranch house, only bigger, large verandas running along the front of the house, two large oak doors at the entrance and large windows, perfect for letting in natural sunlight.

The land itself was also large and beautiful. Wild lavender flowers were growing in one of the fields, the other fields empty, but could easily accommodate a number of horses.

'This place looks amazing," Michael complimented as he stepped out of his car, walking over to Kai's to give her a hand with her newly bought belongings.

"It's something alright," Kai said as another soft smile graced her lips, somewhat proud of the property she owned. "It's also very big. I'm not sure what to do with all the room."

Effortlessly picking up most of the bags, Michael followed Kai to the front doors and then inside, in awe once again at the roomy interior. There wasn't that many pieces of furniture, so it looked quite empty, but with only one person living here, he doubted Kai had any use for a five piece lounge room set or large dining table.

"This is something that could easily turn into a bed and breakfast if you wanted," he commented, placing the bags down upon a table as Kai instructed him to do so.

"That's true," Kai said as she threw her shoulder bag onto a vacant chair. "I may have to think about that."

"How many bedrooms?"

"Six including an office that could be converted into a bedroom if necessary," Kai said as she beckoned him to follow her and she began to give him a quick tour of the ranch. "The rooms are quite large as well."

Stepping into an empty bedroom, Michael could not help but screw his nose up at the choice of colour on the walls. It was a murky greyish green colour, not very likable at all. "Ugh, don't think much of the colour in this one."

"No, neither do I," Kai said as she also turned her nose up at the walls. "I was thinking of repainting it."

"I think that's a good idea," Michael said as he perked up at the idea. It was a perfect excuse to find his way back here, to hide out as well as the help. He didn't mind getting his hands dirty and redecorating an empty ranch like this sounded like fun. "What colour do you have in mind?"

Kai thought quietly to herself for a moment, her stunning ruby eyes studying her surroundings. "Probably lavender and then a dark purple feature wall."

"Sounds great," Michael said with a grin.

"I think I might repaint all the rooms," Kai said and shrugged lightly when Michael raised an eyebrow in her direction. "You know, gives me something to do."

"I can definitely help with that," Michael said with a sense of enthusiasm.

"I need to buy some paint first," Kai said as her small smile threatened to grow larger.

"How about tomorrow we meet in town again?" Michael suggested, a sense of satisfaction appearing in his chest when he realized that he will have something to do again tomorrow!

"That way you can buy the paint you want and I can show you where you can get it."

Kai folded her arms loosely over her stomach and tilted her head to the side in question, yet also mildly amused at Michael's enthusiasm. "No other plans for tomorrow?"

Michael shook his head. "None."

"Alright then," Kai said as she straightened her posture. She then started to remove her outer jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her dark blue woollen jumper. "Now, let's get those curtains up."

"Right."


	5. Chapter 5

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** Has anyone else seen all those god-awful You-Sues that are currently plaguing this site? They belong on Quizilla, not here. Besides, You-Sues are against the rules and regulations of ffnet. I would point it out to them, but then I would probably get a pissy, bitchy little response from the Suethor saying how much of a bitch I am that really isn't worth my time or effort. This fandom has gone to the shit house...

**AN:** Thanks you very much to; Rapunzelle, CleverPhoenix, DarkBombayAngel, mimic shalle, kaitouahiru, angelvan105, van, Tony, marishka91 and G-Wing Gurl for reviewing. Love hearing from you all, very much so.

Don't worry, I will definitely try my hand at the OC team of Sues cliché, it's just taking a bit of time. It's bad enough having to write one teeth-grinding Sue, let alone four of them. It's enough to make your head cave in. Even so, mocking this cliché will be ever-so-sweet.

Please feel free to comment, make a suggestion or rant about a particular OC cliché that annoys you. I'm all ears! Get it off your chest.

* * *

Chapter 5:

It's been a somewhat eventful day and Michael felt that he had actually achieved something worthwhile. He was actually in a pretty good mood for once. He managed to spend the entire day at Orchid Ranch with Kai, helping her redecorate the inside of her ranch. The process of erecting the curtains in front of the windows wasn't a hard job; it was drawn out because the two of them kept talking. And Kai could make an amazing cup of coffee!

While not overly talkative, Kai had a lot of interesting things to say and was quite intelligent, not only about Beyblade but about other things as well. She had no problem explaining things that didn't make sense with a patience Michael can only deduced came from years of dealing with her teammates and how hard it was to keep their attention for more than ten minutes.

While there were some topics that were off-limits, she wouldn't get overly emo or bitchy about it, shutting him off like it was something that could bring about the end of the world. She simply told him that she rather not talk about it in a calm, professional manner and then changed the subject, the mood never growing tense between them.

Michael had met some girls in his life that did the exact opposite of Kai. They would either start crying and spill out every single dark detail of their life on the spot, right there and then in front of someone they didn't know. Or they would immediately become cold, rude and verbally lash out at him as he didn't understand her pain and he was a jerk because of it.

And all he asked was how their day was!

Michael was steadily becoming more impressed with Kai; she's was not your average teen, that was for sure. She wasn't an overly powerful or feisty young woman, but she also wasn't a sweet and angel-like being.

She was...real. Down to earth, yet passionate about what she believed in. She was assertive, not aggressive. She was patient, but no saint. While she was powerful in just about every sense, she possessed no ego of her greatness. She saw herself as just another human being, not talking about herself that much at all.

Kai couldn't be any more different from Mariasha.

Michael enjoyed being in Kai's company greatly; he could be himself around her, sharing a few jokes or teasing her lightly when he wanted. She treated him like a human being, not a piece of meat that needed to be auctioned off to the sassiest girl the town biddies could find.

It felt nice to spend the entire day away from the disapproving gazes of the biddies in town, the lectures of manners from his mother and the shrill, whiney voice of his pain in the neck, Mariasha. Even if it was only for a few hours. He can't wait to head back there tomorrow and get his hands dirty helping Kai paint a couple of the rooms.

Yeah, he was in a very good mood and actually looked forward to waking up tomorrow.

However, his mood quickly dimmed when he walked up to the front door of his house, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach. It was late evening and he was sure that he probably missed dinner, not that he minded too much. He had a few things to eat while at Kai's anyway.

Still, they will only add another topic to a lecture he'll no doubt get. It felt ridiculous, but he was fearful of coming home to his own house because he knew the icy reception he'll receive from his mother and Mariasha.

He can just picture it now. His mother would always stand at the door with her arms folded over her chest in disappointment while Mariasha stood just off behind her, pretending to be sniffing, while holding back a smirk. As soon as he would step through the door his mother would demand to know where he has been while Mariasha would 'fuss' over him, telling him that she's just glad he's home ok.

Things would be different as soon as Marly left the room, though. She would swap the sweet look for a sour look and immediately begin insulting him, calling him a cheating bastard or something to that degree.

All because of Mariasha, he dreaded coming home.

Easing open the front door, Michael popped his head in first, a look of defiance on his face. But that soon melted away into confusion when he could see no sight of his mother, or Mariasha.

Wow, maybe he'll be lucky for once.

"Good evening, dear."

Michael almost jumped out of his skin and spun around to see Nana sitting in her favourite chair near the fire place, a blanket around her legs as a book sat in her lap.

"Nana!" he said with utter relief. He was expecting his mother to jump out of the shadows, with a scowl on his lips for missing dinner and ditching Mariasha. "Thank God, it's you!"

A mild look of amusement appeared on Nana's wrinkly face and a twinkle appeared in her eyes. "Your mother is in the kitchen, cleaning up from dinner, which you missed. And Mariasha, I believe, has gone home to sulk."

"Is ma getting ready to lecture me again?" Michael asked, somewhat relieved that his irritating neighbour wasn't here anymore.

"I think she scowled you enough over the phone," Nana said with a sympathetic look. "She was ready to tell you how rude it was to ditch a woman in waiting, but I told her that you had some important errands you needed to do in town today, on my behalf."

Michael literally sighed with relief. "You're the greatest."

Nana chuckled and sent him a knowing look. "You seem like you're in a good mood," she commented as Michael walked into the lounge room and sat on a footstool that was beside her chair. "Managing to spend the entire day away from Mariasha seemed to have done you a world of good."

Michael couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his lips. "That and I met a friend in town. She's staying at that empty ranch out of town, doing it up a little."

A slight frown appeared on her face. "By herself?"

But Michael could only chuckle lightly, knowing that Kai would be slightly flattered, but also miffed at everyone's concern. "Trust me; she's more than capable of looking after herself."

Nana paused for a moment, her eyes studying the young male in front of him. He appeared happy, something she had not seen for such a long time now. His friend of his must be quite a young woman. How interesting...

"What's her name?"

"Kai Hiwatari."

"Hiwatari?" Nana repeated as her eyebrows shot up toward her hairline. "The same young woman who exposed her gender she had been hiding for years on live TV to debunk a strange girl's accusation of having his baby?"

A wide grin of amusement appeared on Michael's lips and he nodded. "That's her."

Once again, Nana paused to think to herself before nodding her head sharply. "I like her already," she said. She too had witness the event on TV as well and thought it was utterly amusing. That took an incredible amount of guts, and it proved that she was not a woman to be taken lightly.

Michael laughed. "I thought the two of you would get along well," he said before he winced slightly. "The women in town are going to be talking up a storm, though."

"I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I play bingo with tonight," Nana said as she lifted up her book to read it again. "Don't worry, I'll set them straight."

A sudden thought occurred to Michael and he frowned, a sense of annoyance bubbling in his chest. What would those women do when they realize that Kai could be a seen as a threat to him and Mariasha? He can't let them give her the cold shoulder, she most certainly did not deserve it, and she's been through enough shit as it was.

"Don't let them say a bad thing about Kai," he requested suddenly. "She's done nothing wrong."

Nana lowered her book and gave him a reassuring smile, one that seemed to hold a sense of understanding to it. "Of course."

-------------------------

Normally, his mother's sighs of disappointment would have gotten on his nerves, his guilt soaring to incredible heights, but not tonight, he was in too much of a good mood to feel remotely sorry for what he did this morning.

Truthfully, it was the best thing he ever did. He got to spend the entire day with someone who actually made him feel good about himself, not once saying something that was a put down or an insult to his intelligence.

Stepping out of the bathroom after just having a shower, a towel hastily rubbing at his long hair to dry it, he smiled softly to himself. Nana was currently in town, at bingo, no doubt getting the brunt of all the gossip. He'll have to ask her what they said about him and Kai when she gets back. His mother drove Nana in town and then drove back, currently in the kitchen, pottering around and cleaning up, waiting for Nana to call to be picked up.

The temper seemed to drop a degree or two and Michael was suddenly aware that there was someone standing out in the hallway, between him and the sanctuary of his bedroom. And that someone was sending psychic waves of utter annoyance in his direction.

How the hell did she get inside? He thought she went home to sulk and brood to herself.

Opening his eyes, Michael could not help but release a groan of sheer frustration when he was greeted by a glare from narrow green eyes. Mariasha was leaning against a wall, her arms folded under her bust, seemingly trying to amplify their attractiveness. She was still wearing her totally inappropriate clothing, though, fashion that would be better suited for summer...at a strip joint.

"I can't believe you ditched me this morning like that," Mariasha said through gritted teeth, her voice low so his mother who was still down stairs wouldn't hear her. There was absolutely no sign of her sweetness and good-girl persona at the moment.

This was her true self. How fortunate for Michael to be the only one to witness it.

Michael merely removed the towel from his head and stuck his nose in the air in a sign of contempt. "I had something important that I need to attend to," he said clearly annoyed with her presence. Gah, there goes his good mood. He can't wait for tomorrow to come so he could spend the day with Kai again, doing something constructive with his life.

"Important?" Mariasha hissed lowly, her hand curling into tight fists as she dropped her arms by her sides. Michael here was so rude, egotistical and stuck up; everyone knows that and praised her for being the only one who could put up with him. "We've got important things to discuss, Michael Jacob Parker."

"Yeah?" Michael said with a sarcastic click of his tongue. "What kind of important things?"

Mariasha was aghast that he would even ask that question. It was insanely obvious, of course. They were getting married, that is something that was fucking important. What could be more important than sitting down together and trying to get his life to fit solely around her?

As his future wife, he should do whatever was necessary to make her happy. It was common sense.

"What do you mean?" Mariasha quickly snapped, her voice rising a little in anger as she pushed away from the wall. It was taking all her willpower not to reach up and slap him across the face. Even though it was a very sassy thing to do and no doubt she would have the other women's understanding why she lashed out at him like she did, but her arch nemeses Nana would immediately tell her to leave.

She needed to prove to the stupid, senile old woman that she was perfect girl for Michael. She didn't know what the old bat had against her, but she was becoming very annoying.

"Isn't it obvious?" she said slowly as if her next few words should be something he already knows. "Michael, everyone in town is expecting us to get married and have a family. We have to discuss you leaving your silly dream of being a blader and enter the real world."

Michael immediately bristled at her words. His career of being a professional blader was not silly in anyway. She was merely jealous of his success while she was a nothing little country girl with no ambition in life other than scoring a successful man as a husband.

"There is nothing to discuss," he snapped. "I'm not giving up Beyblade and I'm not going to discuss happy families with you because I'm not going to marry you."

Once again Mariasha was floored by his response and physically took a step back in shock. "What? How dare you?" she said, suddenly growing very angry. "I can't believe how selfish you are. Or how fucking stupid. You're just like you father."

Something inside of Michael snapped at that moment and without thinking, whipped out an arm and physically pushed her against the wall in the hall quite harshly. Mariasha hit the wall with a loud thud, a picture frame falling to the floor from the force as she stayed there in a stunned silence, her green eyes as wider than he had ever seen them.

"Don't you dare talk about my father like that!" Michael snarled dangerously, his own hands forming into fists that shook with barely surprised anger. His father was a good and noble man, did anything for anyone; the pain of losing him at such a young age still hurt so much.

And then to have this..._**bitch**_ use his name in an insulting way was just too much.

"You're the self-centred bitch here, not me!" Michael said as he took a threatening step forward. At this point in time, he didn't care if he was scaring her senseless or that she would go running to his mother, telling her he physically abused her. He didn't care. No one was allowed to use his father's name in vain.

"You think you're so great just because you can manipulate a few of the mothers in town, making yourself out as being this sweet little country girl," a deep growl left his throat. "But I know different. You're an egotistical bitch and I'd rather kill myself then marry you."

Mariasha could do nothing but gap at him like a fish out of water, her breathing harsh and jagged, and her chest heaving up and down in fright. "You..." she whispered before suddenly pushing away from the wall, shoulder charging Michael in the chest and took a couple of stumbling steps.

"You asshole!" she screamed as she stopped at the head of the stairs, her voice easily wafting through the house for his mother to hear. "After everything I've done for you, this is how you treat me? Fine, be that way, you insensitive jerk. Wait until the women in town hear about this!"

Michael spun around to face her, his face an expression of utter murderous rage. "Just you wait until Nana hears how you insulted my deceased father," he hissed, knowing that Nana hated anyone who dared say a bad word against her favourite nephew. "Have you no respect for the dead?"

Mariasha lingered there for a moment, shocked by how angry he was with her before abruptly turning around and running down stairs, and surprisingly out the door before his mother had a chance to comfort her.

"Mariasha?!" Marly said as the front door slammed shut, her voice quickly taking on an angry, scowling tone as she turned around to look upstairs. "Michael, what did you do?!"

"Nothing the bitch didn't deserve," Michael spat and then stormed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him, ignoring his mother's scowling voice through the door.

He threw himself down onto the bed and pushed his face into his pillow. He was so angry, he wanted to physically smash something. How dare she talk about his father like that, comparing him to someone who was egotistical and stupid? What kind of arrogant, self-centred person would speak so lowly of someone who could no longer defend themselves?

Sitting up, Michael punched his bed a few times to get rid of a little bit of his anger before throwing himself back down on his back to glare up at the ceiling. A sudden image of Kai's gently smiling face popped into his head and he felt himself calm down a little.

He could not wait to see Kai tomorrow and tell her everything that happened. She'll have all the right things to say, he was sure of it.

She was his saving grace at the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** You know, out of all the clichés, there's one that just makes my skin crawl and that's when a Suethor rewrites an entire season and adds their OC into the mix. Worst still, they replace a canon (mainly one of the girls like MingMing or Mariah) with their Sue. To me, that's the pinnacle of self-denial. It's even worse when the Sue is a self-insert! I do not wish to read about someone deluded fantasy about an animated character. If you see yourself flirting or sleeping with a fictional character, you need some serious help. It's one thing to write about fictional character, but to write yourself with them? That's deluded.

**AN:** Thank you very much to mimic shalle, FlyingShadow666, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, Elemental Gypsy, DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, van, angelvan105, kaitouahiru and Lady-Alucard for reviewing the last chapter. I do love hearing from all of you and I hope to hear from you all again ^^

* * *

Chapter 6:

Just as Michael had predicted to her earlier that day, the main topic of conversation at bingo in the local community hall was focused on Michael and the new girl, Kai. Nana suspected as much, but was surprised at how the other women are taking to the news. Mrs Michelson had told a few of her friends about what transpired in her store, about how Michael was helping Kai fix up her ranch that she owned and lived on all alone. She also told them how happy Michael appeared in her presence, unwilling unleashing a storm of gossip.

While some of the women were interested in knowing more about the mysterious young woman, and how she could possibly afford her own ranch at such a young age, a few of them immediately labelled her as a home wrecker and a scarlet woman for getting in between Michael and his soulmate Mariasha.

"What is there to like about her?" one of the woman asked, a deep frown on her face as she folded her long, lanky arms over her bony chest. "We know nothing about her!"

Mrs Michelson was immediately overcome with a need to defend the young woman, as from what she witness in town that very morning, Kai was not some manipulative or scheming gold digger. She was just a nice young woman who just happened to be friends with Michael, the young man she and the others felt needed to be tamed in some way.

"She's...different," she said slowly. "She seems like a genuinely nice young woman. She is also responsible and independent, but knows when to accept help when offered."

While trying to sit in the background and not get too involved with all the petty accusations and insults, Nana could not help but feel a sense of annoyance at how disgusting some of the women's behaviour really was. They don't even know young Kai and yet they are already labelling her off as no good. They were praising Mariasha like an angel, while referring to Kai as an interfering harlot.

That did not set well with her. Anyone who could put Michael in a good mood and was worthy enough to warrant his attention, concern and protectiveness, was not a harlot!

"It's not necessary to know every detail of someone's background to like them or not," Nana's commanding voice immediately stop the women from continuing. She narrowed her eyes and stared them all down, a few of them looking away in shame. "Stop being so judgmental; Kai is obviously a close friend of Michael's, so don't you dare give her the cold shoulder just because he's paying her more attention than Mariasha. And for heaven's sake, stop meddling!"

The skinny mother from before immediately frowned, a look of shocked disbelief on her face. "You don't think they-?"

No, that was not possible. Michael and Mariasha are meant to be, they're childhood friends and neighbours for heaven's sake! What more proof was needed?

Mariasha was such a nice girl with a good head on her shoulders. She's strong emotionally and mentally, she had to be for putting up with Michael all these years. Everyone was well aware how much of a trouble-maker Michael was, he was a right little terror in his youth, always doing things his own way and then running off to join a Beyblade team when he was just a teen. He might as well join a circus!

How dare he leave sweet, caring Mariasha behind?

"I believe Michael will make his own choice," Nana immediately interrupted. If Michael and Kai were to become an item, then she would rather they do it on their own. She wasn't even sure if Michael was even interested in romance as the women in town seemed to have scared him off of love almost completely.

Not that she could blame him at all. There is only so many times you can listen to an elderly woman telling you how the two-faced girl next door would make the perfect wife for you.

"If he doesn't want to be romantically involved with Mariasha, then you shouldn't force him," Nana finished as she quickly glared at everyone again.

She pressed her lips together in silence for a moment, trying to quell an unfathomable amount of anger at the young Evan's girl. She still could not comprehend why Mariasha was liked so much, could they not see past her fake facade of sweetness? If she was anymore manipulative, she would have devil horns sticking out from her hair.

"If you adore Mariasha so much, would you really force her into a loveless marriage?" Nana suddenly asked quite sternly, making everyone stop to think for a moment.

"But Michael can learn to love her," one of the pro-Mariasha women tried to point out in vain, refusing to give up on the idea of the perfect union between the two of them.

"Then he'll just have to learn who he'll love on his own," Nana quickly snapped before beginning to gather up her belongings, no longer able to sit here and listen to such unbelievable nonsense.

"I am sick of speaking of Michael's love life," Nana said as she rose to her feet and pulled out that fan-dangled mobile phone she still hasn't gotten used to. "Either change the subject or I'll go home."

"But, Michael..."

Nana didn't want to hear the end of that. She simply pushed away from the bingo tables and picked up her phone for Marly to come pick her up. She had never, ever met such a meddling, blind group of old fools in her life. And she's been around the old block a few times in her years.

Honestly, they were making _**her**_ want to flee town and vow to never return. She could not even imagine what poor Michael was going through.

---------------------------

The ride home from town was a tense one as Nana was still inwardly seething from the reception at bingo and to her surprise; Marly seemed annoyed about something as well. It wasn't until they were half-way home did Marly finally told her about Mariasha hastily leaving through the front door, crying her heart out.

"I wonder what Michael did this time," Marly muttered under her breath as she pulled into the driveway, shutting the car off.

Nana instantly felt defensive and she sharply looked as the woman next to her. "No, the question here is, what did Mariasha do to him," she tersely snapped.

She was officially sick and tired of people immediately assuming that Michael was at fault whenever Mariasha starting crying about something. It was always poor Mariasha, never, ever poor Michael. It's like his opinion or feelings don't matter at all.

Marly found herself surprised by the iciness in Nana's voice and turned to her with a shocked expression on her face. "Mariasha would never do anything to hurt Michael," she quickly retorted, slightly aghast that she would even say such a thing.

Nana's mood instantly became darker. "Are you blind?"

Again, Marly was surprised by her reaction, wondering what on earth could have happened during bingo that placed her in such a rotten mood. "Pardon?"

"Marlene, I am absolutely appalled with you," she said with a calm sternness and began to remove herself from the car, her usually calm and friendly wrinkly face pressed into a hard look of anger.

Marly felt her heart skip a beat as she sat behind the wheel in a stunned silence, watching through unblinking eyes as Nana shuffled her way to the front door, eager to get inside out of the cold. She was...disappointed in her? Nana has always been so supportive of her and Michael, what could she have done to earn that disappointment now?

Throwing out the driver's side door, Marly scrambled out and made her way over to her aunty-in-law. "W-what?" she stuttered, feeling like she had just received a kick to the chest. "Why?"

"Choosing Mariasha over your own son," Nana simply stated as she stepped inside, placing her bag upon a small table and set about removing her thick, warm coat. "I would never, ever choose anyone over him. Michael is a good, nice young man, I don't care what kind of lies Mariasha tells you. It's obvious that Mariasha was at fault here tonight, and she knows it as well."

"What do you mean?" Marly asked in a low voice, her body trembling slightly as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. Nana has never, ever been so cold toward her before in her life. It was...scary.

"She ran away without crying to you first," Nana said, still unwilling to look in her direction as she began to potter about, getting a glass of water in preparation for bed. "That tells me that she provoked Michael into lashing out at her. Whatever she did, it was something terrible...she must have mentioned Richard in a less than flattering light."

Nana's grip on the glass tightened to a frighten level and she, too, began to tremble as she tried her best to quell a bubble of anger that had formed in her chest from her current thought pattern.

Michael has told her a few times how Mariasha would refer back to his father with a blatantly insulting tone in her voice. She often compared her dearly departed nephew, Richard as someone who was stubborn, ill-tempered and selfish. That made her so angry after hearing that and could understand how Michael felt like he wanted to break something whenever someone spoke so...disgustingly of his father in such a way.

He is so much like his father, especially in character traits and appearance. Michael's father, Richard, was a kind but strong man, someone who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty to help a friend in need. Everyone in town adored him and he's sorely missed.

But then to have Mariasha dirty his name? That was unforgivable.

Someone needs to do something about her; her wild mood swings and backstabbing behaviour cannot go on. She was tearing this community apart...she was destroying this family.

Oh, Richard, what should she do? No matter what she says to the other women in town, they can't seem to accept the fact that Michael loathed Mariasha with all his being. How could she even begin to help Michael rid himself of his major nuisance?

"You don't like Mariasha, do you?" Marly suddenly asked, pulling Nana out of her thoughts.

"No," Nana said as she shook her head slowly. "I don't."

Marly swallowed thickly, her chest hurting slightly from not being able to release her pent-up emotions the way she needed. "Why?"

"Because she's making life difficult for Michael as well as turning you against your own son," Nana explained, still not even glancing in her direction. She then slowly shook her head, her frail and elderly body looking weaker and more fragile than ever before. "I've had a long night, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

With those parting words, Nana silently made her way to her bedroom, softly shutting the door behind her, leaving Marly to stand alone in the empty and cold kitchen. The silence was deafening and smothering. She wrapped her arms tighter around her body and found herself folding into a cold chair, shocked by what just happened.

"How could this have happened?" she whispered to herself as tears began to freely fall from her eyes.

------------------------

Waking up from the worst sleep he has ever had in his life, Michael felt his head pound from a seemingly incurable headache. His limbs felt heavy, stiff and sore. His chest hurt, his nose was stuffy, his brain literally pulsating in his skull.

Or in other terms, he felt like shit.

He had a fitful sleep, dreaming about the good time he had with his father only to have Mariasha interfere, taking his father away from him. No matter how much he screamed and yelled at her, or how he told the women in town what she was doing to him, no one listened and he was slowly beginning to resign himself to the fact that he'll never know happiness again.

But then Kai would appear in his dreams, strong and defiant as always. She stood by his side, telling him that everything will be alright. That she'll help him, but only if would just ask.

Remember that little fact from his dream gave Michael the strength to push himself out of bed, his mind too foggy to even register the icy chill of the room. With only one thought in mind, he set about pulling on some clothes, his mind barely realizing that it's only 6.30 in the morning.

He doesn't care. He just needed to get out of this house, get away from his mother, get away from that fight, and to get away from Mariasha. He needed to see Kai; she would never judge him, provoke an angry response, or make fun of his father. She would never, ever do that kind of thing.

Driving to Orchid Ranch was a blur to Michael and the next thing he knew was that he just pulled out the front of Kai's place. He sat in the car for a moment, trying to remember how he got here so quickly, but his thoughts were interrupted when the front doors opened and Kai appeared, half asleep and wrapped up in a thick woollen, dark purple poncho type garment, those sheepskin uggboots on her feet.

Kai furrowed her brows in confusion as Michael stepped out of the car and wordlessly made his way over to her. "Michael?" she said as she tried to give him a small smile. "You can't be that eager to start painting," she lightly joked.

However, any amusement in her voice soon disappeared when Michael grew closer and she could see heavy bags under his eyes, his posture tired and weary and his expression that of defeated resignation.

It kind of scared her a little.

Wordlessly, Michael stepped onto the veranda next to her and then catching her completely off guard, threw his arms around her in a desperate hug, his face resting in the curve of her neck.

"M-Michael?" Kai stuttered as her eyes grew wide and a light blush adorned her cheeks. However, she quickly lifted her arms and wrapped them around his waist when he suddenly slumped forward, seemingly out of energy. Concern immediately overwhelmed her and she let the young male hold onto her as she held him up on his feet.

They stayed like that for a few moments, Michael simply clinging to Kai as if she was his only lifeline. Kai wasn't sure what was troubling Michael at this point, but she knew Mariasha had something to do with it. Call it a hunch if you will.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and began to rub soothing circles up and down his back. "Come inside," she said softly. "It's cold out here."

Michael nodded against her neck and they reluctantly pulled away. With a hand on his back, Kai gently lead him into the lounge room, over to a single seater chair that was near the fire place that was thankfully still smouldering from last night.

"I...had a rough night," Michael murmured as he sunk down into a lounge chair, Kai sitting on the arm next to him.

Concern instantly filled her, not likening the way Michael appeared older and wearier than he should. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nana went into town to play bingo and Mariasha decided to pop over to abuse me for dumping her yesterday."

Ah, so she was right. This was all Mariasha's fault.

Perhaps it's time for the two young women to have a good old heart to heart.

But first, back to the task at hand. Ripping Mariasha apart will have to wait. Michael needs her full attention right now. "What did she say?"

"She insulted my father," Michael muttered bitterly as he rested his hand on his forehead, suddenly looking very tired and depressed. "I don't care what she says about me; just don't bring my father into it." Another sigh passed his lips and he shook his head. "I lost my temper, called her a bitch, amongst a few other things and she took off. And I kinda lashed out at her, knocking her into the wall."

Kai instantly hissed at Mariasha's blatantly disrespect and selfishness. "That was very wrong of her," she muttered as she tried to resist the urge to storm outside, jump into her car and then run Mariasha over with it. She couldn't do that, however. One; Michael still needed her comfort and two...she didn't even know what Mariasha looked like. She hasn't even seen her yet, despite hearing so much about her.

"You had every right to be angry like that," Kai quickly reassured as she shifted further up the arm of the chest, resting her back against the back rest and then letting Michael rest his head against her chest. She was positive that Michael would be feeling a tad guilty for lashing out at a girl like he did. Despite it being her fault, he was probably still angry at himself. But that was just the type of guy Michael really was. A true gentleman who didn't like to hurt other people.

Which was more than could be said about Mariasha.

"No one should ever speak lowly of the departed, no matter how sassy she is."

Michael gave her a soft and sincere smile of gratitude as he let his eyes slip shut, suddenly wanting nothing more than to fall asleep. "Thanks Kai."

"I haven't even met Mariasha yet and I'm already loathing her," Kai muttered under her breath, that inner rage to beat the shit out of her came back, almost ten folds. Would anyone truly miss her if she suddenly disappeared?

"Wait until you meet her," Michael said drily. "She'll give you a really good reason to hate her, I promise."

"Don't try to frighten me like that," Kai said as she snorted, subconsciously lifting a hand and running her fingers through his dyed blonde hair. "I came here to get away from those demented morons."

A soft, but genuine chuckled passed Michael's lip and he carefully lifted a hand and placed it on Kai's knee, the one that was closest to him. "I guess it just means they're everywhere," he said as he began to lightly rub small circles on her knee with his thumb.

This time, Kai released a long-suffering sigh. "Unfortunately," she muttered before shaking her head light, wanting to change the subject, turning her concern back on Michael again. "Come on; let's not speak about her anymore. She's not worth the aggravation. Why don't you get some sleep? You look exhausted."

"But we need to go into town today," Michael said with a frown, not wanting to miss out on spending a fulfilling day with Kai, but also not wanting to go into town as he was sure Mariasha would have told them everything of what happened between then last night. He did not want their accusing gazes at the moment.

"I'll go by myself," Kai said, knowing that Michael was in no mood to be dealing with the town biddies. "I'll find my way around. You stay here and get some rest. No one will bother you here, I promise. I'll probably be back before you wake up, ok?"

Michael knew better than to argue when he was half asleep and nodded his head just a little. "Yeah, ok," he muttered before drifting off to sleep, being lulled by the gentle and comforting feeling of Kai's fingers through his hair.


	7. Chapter 7

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** It's not really a gripe, but more like a question. I have a sudden thing for weird and bizarre names Suthors are calling their Sues. There's the usual of Raven, Revenge, Sakura and Phoenix; what eye-rolling names have you come across? Let me know so I can spork the hell out of them ^^ Thanks in advance.

**AN:** Hey there, sorry, no Kai and Mariasha confrontation yet. Next chapter, I promise. In this chapter, Kai learns a bit more about Mariasha…and how she's not as popular with the males in town that she would like to believe. Could there be more reason to hate her? Let's find out, shall we?

Thank you to; mimic shalle, marishka91, DarkBombayAngel, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, Tony, glitteredvixen06, kaitouahiru, G-Wing Gurl, angelvan105, van and Elemental Gypsy for reviewing. I appreciate it very much. I hope you hear from you all again.

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Chapter 7:

Draping a blanket over a now sleeping Michael, Kai felt her anger bubble in her chest as she gazed upon his weary face, the lines under his eyes telling her that he had a fitful night sleep. She pressed her lips into a thin line when she thought about the obnoxious bitch who was the sole reason for Michael's ailment.

Mariasha...

Was it even possible to absolutely loath someone you haven't yet met? For Kai, the hatred for Mariasha was very real and all she wanted to do was to punch her in the face...repeatedly. And she's not normally a violent person.

All her life she has dealt with annoying, arrogant and frustratingly egotistical people, but not one of them before had ever made her imaging violent ways to deal with them. That just tells you how much she detests Mariasha.

It was a little frightening, really.

Running her fingers through Michael's hair Kai could only imagine the torment Mariasha has put him through and that made her feel even angrier. A lot of people liked to pick on him solely because they see him as a pretty boy and a brainless jock. She hated how people made judgments the moment they laid eyes on you, even though she knows it's only human nature.

Still, we wished people wouldn't be so judgmental.

Slipping on her coat, Kai quietly placed a couple of large logs onto the fire to keep the house warm and Michael comfortable as he slept. She then silently made her way outside, gently shutting the door behind her as it was obviously Michael really needed his rest.

While driving into town, Kai started to formulate a plan in her head, unfortunately, by the way her hands gripped the steering while with white knuckles, only thoughts of violence reigned in her mind.

Kai was looking forward to her confrontation with Mariasha, no doubt about that, but first she needed to calm herself down a little. It would do her no good to storm into town and start ranting and raving; it would make her out to be a troublemaker while placing Mariasha higher on her pedestal. The last thing Kai wanted was for the biddies in town to like Mariasha even more.

Besides, she still doesn't know what Mariasha even looks like. She can stand out in the middle of the street, screaming out Mariasha's name at the top of her lungs and calling her out for a showdown in the middle of town.

No, she had to approach this in a diplomatic way. Besides, that previous scenario was something _she_ would do, not her. She needed to find a bit more information on Michael's neighbour and to learn if she really is the golden girl in town she presented herself to be.

Somehow, Kai found that unlikely.

From what Michael has told her, Nana detests Mariasha as much as he does. It's comforting to know that he has at least someone on his side no matter what. She wonders if Nana knows what happened to him last night. He arrived at her ranch quite early this morning and seemed to be in a bit of a daze, so he might have slipped out without talking to anyone.

Pulling into town, Kai parked her car in front of the cafe once again, offering a small wave to the town biddy inside, who was actually the one to initiate the wave in the first place. Fixing her bag upon her shoulder, Kai looked up when she heard the sound of children's voices laughing on the other side of the road, where the park was situated. A group of child, about six of them where playing with a ball kicking it around and just having a bit of old fashion fun. It's so good to see them not stuck inside, playing video games all day.

Suddenly, one of the little boys kicked the ball too hard and it went spinning across the grass and into the river that flowed through the middle of the parklands. The kids followed the ball, but stopped at the shore, watching with distress as the ball came to rest upon a dead branch. One of the boys then announced that he'll get it and began to walk along the stones, unbalanced.

The water, though shallow, was moving quite quickly and if any of those small children should fall in, they could freeze!

Without much thought, Kai dashed across the road and over to them. "Hey, get away from there, you could fall in!" she said as the young boy who was toeing the edge of the creek pulled back, looking up at her in surprise.

"Wait here," Kai said as she placed her bag down onto the grass and walked over to the river, noting that there was a roll of rocks leading to where the ball was perched on a dead branch in the water. She then turned to the children who were all looking at her in surprise and confusion and offered them a small smile. They're probably wondering who she was and what she was going to do.

"I'll get it, I don't want any of you to fall in and hurt yourselves," she said as she effortlessly walked, almost glided, along the rocks, not wobbling or faltering once. She then leaned down and plucked the ball out of the water and dead branch, turned around and walked back to shore, not getting her boots wet at all.

Walking over to the kids that are now looking at her in awe, Kai leaned down and presented them their ball. She thought the children before her looked quite cute, staring at her with wide eyes of youthful innocence.

"You have to be careful around water," she told them without the lecturing tone, knowing that kids don't like to be scowled and they didn't really deserve it anyway, it was an accident, so no harm was done.

A small boy with messy brown hair continued to stare at her with wide eyes before a large grin appeared on his lips and he took the ball from her hands. "Thank you lady!" he said cheerfully.

A small laugh passed Kai's lips as she stood up, watching as the kids whisper amongst themselves. "You're very welcome," she said. Kids like the ones in front of her always put her in a good mood. And she needed something like this to help get her head straight.

"Wow, she's nothing like Mariasha." One child whispered to his friends as the only girl of the group with blonde hair in pigtails, tied with blue ribbon continued to stare at her.

"She's pretty," she said as she grinned up at her, surprising Kai as well. "She seems nice as well."

"Oh, you know Mariasha?" Kai asked, surprise giving way to interest when the little girl wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

"Yeah," she said.

"What do you think of her?" Kai found herself asking, leaning against her knees so she was now eye level with the children. "You can tell me, I won't tell a soul."

"I don't like her," a boy with thick glasses up said as he rubbed his noise. "She's scary."

That alarmed Kai a little. "Why is she scary?"

"She's mean to us," the boy with the ball said, sounding cross. "She thinks we're stupid just because we're kids."

Again, the blonde girl frowned and folded her arms over her chest in a huff. "She said that girls shouldn't play with boys because they're smelly."

Kai immediately bit her tongue, her hatred for Mariasha seemingly growing with each person she spoke to. "You don't think they're smelly?"

"They're my friends!" she said as she threw her tiny hands into the air, causing Kai to smile softly, knowing that she will be quite a bright spark when she gets older. "I shouldn't have to listen to her."

"You're right," Kai said as she placed a gentle hand on top of her soft blonde hair, calming her down a little. "No one should tell you who you should be friends with. That's not right."

"Yeah!"

"Don't worry about her, ok?" Kai said as she removed her hand from the little girl's hair and stood up tall again, picking up her bag as she did so. "Now, go on and play. But make sure you stay away from the water. It's cold this time of year."

"Kay! Thanks again, lady!"

Once again, Kai laughed lightly and waved as the children continued their playing. She turned to walk back to her car when she noticed a slightly older man looking at her from a stone pathway. He looked to be about 30 odd with wayward sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes. He was quite a handsome man and by the white coat he was wearing, he was probably the town's doctor.

"You have quite a way with children," he commented as he gave her a smile.

Kai was slightly startled by that as she didn't sense him before. She must have been too busy trying to keep her anger for Mariasha in check. "Oh!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he said with a mild sense of amusement in his voice. "I was just heading into work when I saw what happened. That was incredibly nice of you."

Kai immediately blushed a light pink. "I'm just glad that I arrived before one of them fell in," she said humbly as she walked over to him and onto the stone path as well.

"That's true," he said as he focused his attention on the petite young lady next to him and held out his hand to introduce himself. "I didn't catch your name. You can call me Dane. I'm the doctor in town."

"Oh, my name is Kai," Kai said as she shook his hand, tilting her head to the side in question when Dane's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition.

"Ah, so you're the one that has been creating quite a stir in town," he said as he dropped their grip and placed his hands into his pockets of his coat.

Kai blinked once. "Pardon?"

Dane simply laughed at her reaction, realizing that she had no idea of the impact her presence has brought to town. "It seems that you have the town biddies divided at the moment," he explained. "I guess they're beginning to realize that Mariasha isn't that perfect after all."

Kai instantly perked up at that. "You're not a Mariasha fan?"

"I guess you could say that I'm indifferent to her," Dane said with a shrug. "I don't outright hate her like some people, but I don't like her either."

Kai wanted to ask about the 'some people' remark, but decide not to as she probably wouldn't know who he was talking about. Besides, he might have meant Nana and she already knew about her dislike toward Mariasha. She hasn't met Nana yet, but she already liked her.

"I've heard quite a bit about Mariasha, but I haven't met her yet," Kai said as she subconsciously tugged at her shoulder bag. "She doesn't seem like a very nice person, though. From what I understand, she's sweet one minute and then rude the next."

Dane appeared in deep thought for a moment, turning to gaze out at the rushing river. "She has always been like that. The women in town just say she's in touch with her emotions and it was great to have such a powerful young woman like her. Some the women here are sorta old fashioned. They would like nothing more than for Michael to get married and start a family of his own."

"But he's only 18 years old," Kai said as she shook her head in disbelief. "Shouldn't he think about getting a career before settling down?" she asked before suddenly sighing and glancing at her watch. She needed to hit the hardware store and get what she needed before she bumped into Mariasha. She can't have that obnoxious female distract her from what was really important.

She was becoming more and more annoying, and she still hasn't met her yet!

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you," Kai said as she gave Dane a forced smile, once again trying to quell her anger at the increasingly distasteful Mariasha. "But I really must find that hardware store. I need to buy some paint."

"Ah, yes, I should be going as well," Dane said as he glanced at his watch as well before looking up and giving Kai a bright, charming smile. "The hardware store is next to the bakery, you can't miss it."

"Thank you," Kai said as she bowed her head slightly in gratitude. "It was nice talking to you."

Dane nodded his head and walked away, Kai walking in the opposite direction to him.

Finding the hardware store was not a difficult task and soon Kai was inspecting the painting section with the store manager offering advice and tips. She had driven her car around to the store as it would be easier to place the products she buys straight into the back of her 4WD.

The manager, who she was told to call Simon, was an older man, about middle age with slightly greying brown hair. He was quite tall and well built, your average handyman, no doubt.

They struck up small conversation and Kai mentioned to him that she was a good friend of Michael's, earning her a look of mild sympathy from her companion.

"They're trying to hook Michael up with Mariasha," Simon said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes, I've heard," Kai said as she tried to quell that becoming all too familiar sense of inner rage whenever someone mentioned that name. True, she wanted to learn what the other townsfolk thought of her, but it didn't make it any less painful.

Simon suddenly glanced wearily around the store before saying under his breath, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Kai was mildly surprised by that and blinked slowly before asking with a low voice of her own, "You don't?"

"Mariasha's a little...flighty one could say," Simon explained as Kai handed him the colours she wanted for painting. "She has one hell of a temper."

"You've seen her lose her temper?" Kai queried as she walked over to the counter as Simon carried the tins of paint she required for her rooms.

"Oh yes, plenty of times," Simon said as he winced seemingly from memories of what he had witness previous from the sassy female. "Don't tell anyone I said anything," he immediately warned. "I'd cop an earful from the missus if she found out."

Kai placed a finger to her lips. "I won't say a word."

"The women in town adore Mariasha for reasons a male like me can't understand," Simon went on to explain as she tallied up Kai's purchases, noting in mild surprise that she was using a gold credit card. "They think she's a powerful and feisty woman, or something. I don't know these things. They go over my head, I tell you."

"You'd probably sleep better at night not knowing," Kai said, unable to stop a soft laugh from passing her lips.

"True," Simon said with a grin before he turned away from the counter and bellowed into the back office. "Noel! Get out here and give this young lady a hand with her purchases!" he then turned back to Kai, ready to continue their conversation. "So, anyway, Mariasha-"

"Jeez, you guys aren't talking about Mariasha again, are you?" Came a bored voice, laced with annoyance. Kai glanced over Simon's shoulder to see a younger male with messy brown hair appear from the back room, a black workers apron around his waist and a scowl on his face.

"I'm sick of hearing about her," he said as he roughly scratched the back of his head, appearing as though he had just awoken from a nap. "Jeez, you think nothing else matters the way those interfering biddies go on and on."

"You don't like Mariasha either?" Kai asked as she tilted her head to the side in question.

The younger male immediately gave her an expression that was a cross between boredom and annoyance. "She's a fucking headcase!" he said quite loudly.

Simon immediately looked panicky. "Noel!"

Noel then turned his boredom on him. "What, she is!"

"I know that, but don't say it out loud," Simon said with a low voice, casting a shifty gaze at their surroundings. "The women will hear."

"Yeah, whatever," Noel said with a shrugged and placed his hands on his hip, still looking bitter and bored. "I just don't like her. Walks around like she's the best thing since sliced bread. Honestly, I don't know why they even like her. Michael deserves a hell of a lot better if you ask me."

At last, someone else who seemed to detest Mariasha and was on Michael's side. Her day so far had not been in vain. Mariasha wasn't as liked by everyone as first thought.

"Have you spoken to her?" Noel suddenly asked her, pulling Kai out of her thoughts.

"Not yet," Kai said truthfully and shrugged lightly. "I've heard all about her, though."

"Man, I pity you," Noel said as he roughly scratched his head with his fingernails. "When she finds out your friends with Michael, she'll lay right into you."

Kai was actually counting on it. She has a few words she would like to share with Mariasha as well. That was, after all, one of the many reasons she came into town today without Michael's guidance. He needed to rest and she wanted to confront Mariasha without Michael copping the brunt of disapproval from the biddies in town.

Nothing like a good old fashion cat fight between two flighty young women, right?

If they thought Mariasha was fiery and sassy, wait until they see Kai rip into Mariasha. They haven't seen nothing yet.

"Don't worry about me," she said calmly as possible. "I can handle myself rather well. Thank you for your concern."

Ok, now it was time for her and Mariasha to have a chat. She was ready and felt confident that if she did lose her temper, not everyone in town would immediately turn against her. The last thing Kai wanted was the make things harder for Michael.

"Do you know where Mariasha is?" she asked the two males before her, earning her a look of surprise and disbelief from them. "I would like to have a chat with her."

"Are you mad?" Noel asked as he stared at her like she had grown a second head, picking up her purchases and following her to her car.

"Infuriated," Kai simply muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a tall and skinny woman talking quite urgently to a younger woman with long purple hair who was wearing clothes totally inappropriate for this time of year. Or any time of year for that matter. The older woman suddenly pointed in her Kai's direction and the purple hair girl spun around, her hands balled into fists by her side, a fearsome glare on her face.

"Speak of the devil," Noel suddenly muttered as he moved to place Kai's purchases in the back of her car, noting with a look of displeasure how Mariasha was stalking over to them, her face burning with anger.

"So, you're the one then?" she said with a hiss as she appeared before them, Noel slouching his posture as he slipped his hands into his pockets and Kai raising an eyebrow at the new arrival. "You're the bitch who's been causing trouble in town."

_Ah, so this was Mariasha_, Kai mused to herself. Skanky clothing, haughty attitude, instant insult, the way she was trying to glare viciously at her...Yep, deranged and self-centred fanbrat.

This conversation should prove to be rather interesting.


	8. Chapter 8

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** You know what; check out my forum on my profile! Feel free to join in and make new topics if you want. Have fun ^^ And thanks to everyone who submitted their worst Sue names. There is definitely some cringe worthy names there. Mirror? Foxi? Ali Cat? WTF? I'm going to have to use those at one stage. Hmm, I might have to start the worst Sue name topic on my forums.

**AN:** Hello there. Thank you very much to; mimic shalle, DarkBombayAngel, First Lady Lestat, The Cattan Wolf, CleverPhoenix, FlyingShadow666, Rapunzelle, kaitouahiru, marishka91, van, angelvan105, and Elemental Gypsy for reviewing the last chapter.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, the confrontation between Kai and Mariasha! Will Kai lose her temper? Will Mariasha be sassy enough to get one over Kai? Read on to find out ^^

Comments, suggestions and rants about cliches are encouraged and welcomed. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think.

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Chapter 8:

"You're the bitch who's been causing trouble in town."

That was quite a greeting, and from Kai had heard from countless stories around town, this greeting from the famous Mariasha was quite appropriate and the nicest one she's ever going to get.

Studying the purple haired female in front, Kai could not see what was so extraordinary special about her; she wore clothes that were inappropriate for the time of year and had dysfunctional personality that was not even the tiniest bit appealing. Only a self-righteous egotist would storm up to a person they've never met before in the middle of the street and call them a bitch within two seconds of meeting them.

Although the 'greeting' made her bristle, it also made Kai understand Michael just that little bit better. If this side of Mariasha was what he saw often, no wonder he hated so intensely.

Noel wisely took a couple of steps back, not wanting to be involved in this argument that he knew was going to erupted. Mariasha had one hell of a temper when she's not in the company of the town biddies.

Kai, on the other hand, simply slammed the boots of her 4WD shut and moved to step away from the vehicle, casually folding her arms under her bust and giving Mariasha a look of boredom.

"You're also the one who has been trying to steal Michael away from me," Mariasha stated with her green eyes narrowed into a fearsome, blood chilling look. It was a glare that could stop stampeding cattle dead in their tracks and she was legendary for getting people to tell the truth with just one look.

However, Kai was not even remotely intimidated, in fact, finding her glare to be substandard.

"I would never steal anything or anyone," Kai said calmly and slowly, trying to be diplomatic. What she really wanted to do was to slam Mariasha's head repeated against the bonnet of her car, but it wasn't very realistic. She was trying to help Michael, not make things worse by getting into an all out physically brawl in the middle of the street.

"It's hard to steal someone when they welcome your company willingly, isn't it?" she asked, mildly aware that although Noel had backed away, he was still in hearing distance, eager to hear what they have to say. In fact, a few shop windows around them suddenly became preoccupied with 'customers'. "Not that you would know what it was like to be in Michael's company. He can't stand you longer than three seconds."

"Excuse me?" Mariasha practically hissed at her, her brow furrowing with deep wrinkles of anger. "Don't you know who I am? I am the Mariasha Evans, those who are dear to me call me Maria, but don't you dare call me that. You have no right."

Kai rolled her eyes at the introduction. If she didn't want her to call her Maria, why did she add it in anyway? Was it suppose to make her feel unwelcomed that she wasn't allowed to refer to her by her nickname.

"Anyway, I'm sure you've heard about me," Mariasha continued as she casually and quite arrogantly flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder, lifting her nose into the air. "Even brainless harlots like you would have heard of me."

"You do realize that Maria in Hebrew means 'sea of bitterness'?" Kai asked as she continued to look frustratingly indifferent to Mariasha. "Is it a mere coincidence that you are a very bitter and petty individual?"

Behind her, Noel snorted but kept quiet and the customers around them seem to wince, expecting what is about to occur. Inwardly Kai was proud of herself for not getting riled up so quickly, but realized from the beginning of this discussion, that she won't be without inner rage for long.

For a moment, Mariasha remained silent; utterly surprised that someone actually insulted her, to her face! Didn't this bitch know who she was dealing with? Was she that stupid and brainless to insult her like she did?

Unbelievable! Well, two can play at that game. She'll show this Kai person who the real spitfire in town was, and it most certainly wasn't her!

"What did you say? How dare you?!" Mariasha sneered at her as she clenched her hands into fists by her sides. "What kind of name is Kai, anyway? That's a guy's name, if you didn't know."

Mariasha immediately felt smug, knowing that she was right and there was no way this bitch could talk back to her now! She was well known for her ability to immediately stop an argument or conversation with one sentence. No one dared to talk back to her, she was that respected.

"Actually, in Japanese Kai is a girl's name that means forgiveness," Kai quickly informed her with a casual flick of her tongue. "And it's also a Navajo name, which means Willow. True, Kai is a boys names, but it is also a girl's name."

"I don't give a shit!" Mariasha yelled as she bristled, her flawless, slender frame becoming tense and stiff. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Oh, I've heard all about you," Kai said as a sly smirk appeared on her face.

"Oh?" Mariasha said with a sense of smugness and straightened her posture, almost acting like a parrot to puff her chest out and make herself appear more important. "I guess you know how Michael are I are together then?"

Kai simply placed a hand on her chest and shook her head. "From what I understand, the two of you aren't together at all," she stated as she gave the female before her a look of annoyance. "In fact, I dare say Michael despises you with all that he is. A lot of people do."

Mariasha immediately lost the smug look and began to stutter, mortified that anyone had the gall to say something like that to her. She could not believe what she just heard; this bitch actually inferred that she wasn't that popular or liked at all! Who the hell did she think she was, saying such bullshit?

She could not believe the lengths some of these...whores would go to to get what they wanted! It was disgusting how they would make those around them appear like they were the bad guys when in reality she was the bitch!

Michael was her boyfriend, her future husband! He belonged to her and no one else. No one could even compete with her; she was that special and loved by everyone. The town adored her for her wit, Marly, Michael's mother loved her for her sassiness and even Michael was in awe of her feminine strength! To have some strange little tart who was a stranger to this town tell her that she wasn't liked by everyone was the ultimate insult.

"I beg your pardon? What did you just say?" Mariasha hissed at the brainless fool in front of her. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but stay away from my boyfriend, you slut!"

Kai rolled her eyes at the insult, amazed at how some people automatically fall into swearing to get their point across. Really? Slut? Bitch? They were so overused, they lost all meaning. Such petty insults did nothing to get under Kai's skin. She has been called so many things in her life that only very creative insults would surprise.

But, she expected just as much from Mariasha here.

"Really now?" Kai asked as she moved in her stance, bending one knee and tilting her hip outwards in a no-nonsense stance.

"Yes, Michael belongs to me," Mariasha said through gritted teeth, her face turning to an alarming shade of red from trying to keep her temper in check. It seemed, even though the world revolved around her, she had enough sense to realize that they have an audience.

"Michael is not an object to be owned, he has the right to make his own decisions," Kai quickly interjected, momentarily glancing around at her surroundings and noticing a few winces and grimaces before turning her narrowed gaze back at the purple haired girl in front of her. "People like you should not tell a grown man what to do, no matter how sassy you are. Or in this case, aren't."

Mariasha physically reeled back in surprise at the bitterness of Kai's voice and the venom of her words. She just could not comprehend why someone would actually speak to her in such a foul and harsh manner. She was the town's sweetheart, why would anyone treat her like this?

"We are together!" she finally snarled after she gathered herself, trying to get the point across as bluntly as she could. "Everyone knows that."

"Ah," Kai said in a mocking, overly dramatic way and gave her this look that she did not believe a thing she said. "But do they also know how much of a fake you are?"

Mariasha stilled and furrowed her brow in confusion. "What?"

"You act all sweet and gentle in front of a crowd, but you're really nothing but a selfish brat who believes the world revolves around you," Kai simply stated, no anger in her words, only a sense of seriousness, her tone giving the indication of what she just said was a matter of fact.

From the snort behind her from the store clerk, Kai realized it to be true, everyone else was just too afraid to say it out loud themselves.

A stunned silence fell over Mariasha and she appeared shocked. However, that soon gave way to rage and her expression quickly turned into anger. "How dare you?!" she exploded.

"Listen closely, everyone will see how much of a bitch you really are and they will turn on you," Kai said in a hushed tone, finding Mariasha's defiance and reluctance to except defeat utterly irritating. "They will feel betrayed by how you've played them, used them."

However, Mariasha appeared ready to strike at her, the only thing stopping her was the audience. "They love me!"

"Yes, but for how much longer?" Kai asked.

"I'll tell them about you," Mariasha hissed threateningly at her through clenched teeth, her body trembling with barely suppressed hatred. "I'll tell them that you're the bitch who's trying to get in-between Michael and me. They'll run you out of town."

She'll teach this bitch a lesson; teach her not to make fun of Mariasha Evans. This town adored her; she was loved and cherished by all. Was it her fault that the town biddies were easy to manipulate into doing what she wanted? A sweet word here, a tearful glance there; they were eating out of her hands.

This slut won't know what hit her.

"Tell them," Kai said, not even remotely intimidated by the threat as she wasn't brought up in this town, she had no connections other than Michael and the ranch. She knew what Mariasha was trying to do, provoke her in a rage where she will lose her temper, hence making the biddies in town think that she's too violent for Michael and increase their attempts to get him together with Mariasha.

She was not going to let that happen. Michael was his own person, capable of making his own decisions.

No, she was going to show their small group of random nosy parkers who the trouble maker in town truly was. Make them realize how self-centred Mariasha really and truly was.

"Prove to them how much of a petty bitch you are," Kai hissed back at her with equal force, causing Mariasha to literally reel back in intimidation. "Know this, Mariasha, not everyone in his town likes you. Can you really afford to lose more friends?"

Mariasha was stunned by what just happened. This girl was not in awe or intimidated by her at all. She wasn't impressed by her natural beauty and sassy wit. It was unbelievable. She just couldn't believe it, and what made matters worse, no one from their small audience came to her aid.

Shouldn't someone immediately slap this bitch across the face and telling her never to show her face around here again? Why weren't they helping, why were they letting this go on? For fuck's sake, she was Mariasha! They are supposed to worship the ground she walked on and come flying to her aid!

No, wait, they were just waiting for her to put this bitch in her place with her acid tongue, that was all. Yeah, they do love her immensely and Kai was only being a slut and playing mind games, that's all. After this she'll gain more admiration for running this troublemaker out of town and proving how much Michael, although nowhere near as special as she was, was the one for her.

Yeah, that's right.

"...I suggest you back the fuck off," Mariasha stated firmly as she straightened her posture and narrowed her eyes.

"No, I suggest you back off," Kai snapped back, quickly realizing that it was useless talking to someone as egotistical as Mariasha and was quickly losing her temper. She could feel her eye starting to twitch, a sure sign that she was reaching boiling point. "I'm not someone you can threaten or intimidate at all, Mariasha. I'm not afraid of you in the slightest. I don't care what type of influences you have over everyone else, but you can't trick me."

"I do no such thing!" Mariasha immediately screeched. "How dare you make such an accusation? I would never threaten of trick someone. I am merely a young woman who tries her best and everyone likes me for that."

"I'm sure," Kai said with her tone full of sarcasm. "But as I said before, would they like you when they learn the truth of all the pain you've put Michael through for all these years?"

"Pain I've put him through?" Mariasha repeated but then started to laugh outrageously, like the sheer idea alone was something utterly deranged that it was simply not possible. "Don't be ridiculous! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!"

That was it; Kai officially snapped and lost her temper. "Then stop using his father's name in vain!" she yelled, not caring if everyone could now hear them. "What kind of heartless bitch would insult someone's deceased father, who they loved with all their heart, in front of them?!"

Ok, calling Mariasha a heartless bitch loudly in the middle of the street was not the brainiest thing she had ever done and she immediately regretted it. However, much to her surprise and disbelief, Mariasha was so full of herself that she actually admitted to doing it!

"What I said was true!" Mariasha screamed as she stomped her foot on the ground, appearing on the verge of a temper tantrum.

"Oh, hardly!" Kai said loudly as she threw her hands into the air in a sign of frustration, her eyebrow twitching and her body trembling. That was it, she was officially angry and it will take a good few minutes to stop her body from shivering from the intensity of her emotions. "Have you no respect for the dead?"

"He provoked me!" Mariasha said as she wildly threw her arm out to the side, the other moving to grasp at the thin material of her shirt over her heart. "Don't forget he actually assaulted me, or did he forget to tell you that?"

"You provoked him so much to the point that he lashed out at you," Kai sneered, not buying the innocent victim act at all. It was taking all her willpower not to lunge forward and punch Mariasha in the face. Michael wasn't kidding when he said she would give her more reasons to hate her.

It was kinda scary how close she was to mangling this idiot, brainless retard in front of her. How the hell did everyone put up with this shit day in and day out?

"You deserved it all," she hissed. "You got off lightly in my opinion. If that was me, I would have pushed you out the window."

When that threat left her lips, Kai realized that she needed to get out of here before she really lost her cool and do something rash like she did with that stupid girl who claimed was pregnant with his kid. She needed to leave, now!

Again, Mariasha physically reeled back in shock at the threatening tone in Kai's voice and pressed her lips together tightly, appearing trying not to cry. "...Michael is mine," she said as she swallowed thickly. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Michael is not a possession to be owned, and until you realize that, he will never, ever be yours," Kai said as she took a moment to gather herself and glared at Mariasha, telling herself that she was not worth getting riled up over. She was an egotistical fanbrat, nothing more. There was nothing Mariasha could say or do that would redeem the way she was treating Michael and everyone else around her.

"Get over yourself," Kai said as she turned around to leave, heading for the driver's side door of her car, her body trembling with anger ever so slightly. She was sure that once she got in the car and really thought about what happened, the trembling wouldl really take over. She might have to pull on the side of the road for a while before going home; she does not want Michael to see her so worked up like this. He might confront Mariasha himself, making his already frayed nerves worse.

"Where the fuck are you going?!" Mariasha screamed. She did not want this to end on a sour note, with her copping the brunt of it! She was the sassy, feisty one; she was suppose to say a witty one-liner and be the one to walk away, happy in the fact that she put yet another bitch in her place.

"This conversation is over," Kai said as she dug through her bag to look for her car keys. "I'm through with talking with you. I get a more intelligent response out of a brick wall. Go and tell all the town mothers what I said if you want; I'm sure you'll tell them a warp version of what happened."

Even though they had an audience for their first official confrontation, that won't stop Mariasha from spreading more lies about what happened. But, despite everything, Kai was mildly surprised that none of the town biddies came storming out to defend their precious Mariasha. Were they in shock of what happened? There must have been something that prevented them from interfering, but at this point in time, Kai was too irritated to think rationally and wanted nothing more than to get away from Mariasha.

Now, she truly understood the pain of what Michael had to go through every day.

"You know what, I don't care," Kai said as she opened the door to her car and turned to face the red faced and glaring young woman. "I've done nothing wrong and I would never, ever do anything to hurt Michael. But know this, if you ever hurt Michael again, I will make your life a living hell."

And she meant that. If Michael comes to her house early in the morning after yet another fitful night's sleep, she's going to become very, very violent.

She then turned to Noel and bowed her head in a sense of gratitude in his direction. "Thank you, Noel, for all your help."

Noel suddenly smiled and nodded his head. "No, thank you," he said as he turned around and hurried back to the store, the passersby's around them scattering in every direction as Mariasha turned on her heel in a diva size hissy fit and stormed away.

_Ooh, boy...the gossip is going to hit the fan tonight_, Kai thought as she got in behind the wheel of her car.


	9. Chapter 9

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** Just a little piece of random information. I typed in "sister" into the search engine under Beyblade, and do you know how many records were found? 237! Yeah, that's right, and that's only a handful of the shit that is out there. I don't care what anyone says, if your character is a sister to a canon, it's a Mary-Sue! It's not original, not even interesting; it's one of the biggest clichés on the face of this fandom! -rages-

**AN:** Hello again everyone. Lol, I'm so glad that everyone liked the confrontation between Kai and Mariasha. Was there any doubt that Kai would become victorious? Don't worry, there will be more confrontations between them in the future; Mariasha isn't the type of woman who gives in easily and Kai isn't the type to take any of her crap. Poor Michael is going to be in the middle. No Mariasha in this chapter, though, had enough of her 'sassiness' in the last one.

Thanks very much to; kaitouahiru, mimic shalle, dragonfire7654321, G-Wing Gurl, DarkBombayAngel, marishka91, The Cattan Wolf (-pats- I know exactly how you feel. And that's only a fraction of all the hideous KaiOC fics that are out there), CleverPhoenix, angelvan105, van, Rapunzelle, Elemental Gypsy and First Lady Lestat (I know how you feel as well. Feel free to have a rant to me anytime, don't be shy ^^) for reviewing the last chapter!

Suggestions and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Rants are encouraged ^^ Have fun and let me know what you think.

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Chapter 9:

As the last fragments of the a faraway dream fade away, Michael began to become conscious of his surroundings, quickly realizing that he was not in his usual position of laying down in his bed, but rather sitting up in a contraption that was quite comfortable. His brow furrowed in slightly confusion as he tried to lift his hand to rub at his face, finding that there was a thick blanket draped over him. The sound of a crackling fire swiftly brought him back to the reality of his current situation and he sat up in his seat, stretching his arms over his head as he yawned wildly.

That's was right, he crashed at Kai's early this morning.

A light wince appeared on his face as he scratches the back of his neck, realizing what a pathetic sight he must have been this morning. He doesn't really recall much of it as he was inwardly seething about what Mariasha said about his father and at her audacity to think she could insult him and get away with it.

Now, he could really understand how Kai could get so angry that her body trembled with inner rage; that type of anger was scary.

Thankfully, though not that surprising now that he thought about it, Kai didn't just scoff at him and tell him to stop being a baby and get over it when he told her what happened. She was very supportive and soothing, telling him that it wasn't his fault and that Mariasha provoked him. Really, that was what he needed to hear, that he didn't just lose his temper without reason, like Mariasha will no doubt tell everyone.

If he told one of his teammates what happened he probably would have gotten a simple glare and a lecture on how he has to solve his own personal problems, or a 'Stop being a pansy and tell her to piss off' from Rick.

He has tried just about everything under the sun to get Mariasha to realize that he did not like her; he loathed her, detested her, and despised her. There was no love-hate; it was all hate on his behalf. There was nothing he could say about Mariasha, nothing at all. She's...argh! A right pain in the ass!

But Mariasha was either incredibly stupid or very persistent not to get that point.

Maybe she was persistently stupid?

Running a hand through his hair, Michael stood up from his comfortable seat and glanced around at his surroundings. He can't hear Kai anywhere inside and figured that maybe she was still in town as he walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water for his dry throat. As he walked into the large caterer's kitchen, a white piece of paper on the bench caught his attention.

Picking it up, a smile made its way onto his lips when he realized it was a note from Kai, saying; _If you're reading this, I guess it means I'm not home yet. I've just gone into town to pick up the paint supplies for the first bedroom and I didn't want to wake you as it looked like you needed the rest. I shouldn't be too long, but make yourself at home anyway. There's some soup in the fridge if you get hungry. And don't worry about Mariasha; she's not worth getting angry over. If she does anything else, I'll deal with her. I have a lot of experience with obnoxious brats like her._

_Kai._

A warm chuckle escaped Michael's lips as he puts the note back down, feeling a sense of happiness that Kai seemed to care enough about him by letting him stay while she ducked into town and to also allow him free access to her house. Not only that, but to promise she'll handle Mariasha in the future just makes him chuckle as he just had this mental image of Kai beating the crap out of her.

Now, _**that**_ would be a sight to see.

The sound of a shrill ringtone pulled Michael abruptly from his thoughts. He glanced around the kitchen, idly wondering whether or not Kai left her phone behind. But then he realized the noise was coming from the pocket of his jacket and that it was his phone ringing. With a sense of hesitation he pulled it out of his pocket, breathing a sigh of relief when he recognizes the number to be that of Nana's mobile.

Flipping the phone open and pressing answer, Michael pressed it to his ear as he moved out of the kitchen. "Hey Nana," he said in a somewhat guilty tone.

"Michael?" Nana's voice wafted through the phone, relief evident. "Oh, good, I got the right number. I still can't figure out this blasted phone."

Michael gave a genuine laugh at the annoyance in Nana's tone and plonked himself down into a nearby chair. "Sorry for skipping out this morning," he said solemnly, swiftly realizing that Nana would have woken up this morning and had no idea where he was.

"Marly told me about last night," Nana said, her voice holding an uncharacteristic sense of bitterness.

A quick wince appeared on Michael's face. "I'm the bad guy again, right?" he asked as his brow furrowed in frustration. He really was getting sick of having to explain himself to everyone just because something Mariasha said.

"Not if I had anything to say about it," Nana swiftly added, her tone still bitter, which brought a small smile to Michael's lips. Good ol' Nana; he knew he could also rely on her for support.

"Your mother is in a bit of a titz at the moment."

Michael blinked and then sighed. "Something happened?"

"You could say that," Nana said from the other side of the phone, this time reluctant to go into any further details. "You were right, you know."

"The gossip is in full swing, is it?" Michael muttered in a resentful way, a sense of irritation bubbling in his chest at the thought of a bunch of mothers sitting around and badmouthing Kai to the point of viciousness. "Did they say anything bad about Kai? Be completely honest with me."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone which did nothing for Michael's growing aggravation. "They were unsure of your friend since they don't know her very well," she finally said.

"Since when has it been necessary for a newcomer in town to tell everyone their life story?" Michael said as he stiffened in his seat and immediately became defensive. Kai's past was a touchy subject for her to talk about to someone she knew quite well; how painful would it be for her to explain it to a bunch of meddling old women?

Oh no, he was not going to let that happen. He was not going to let Kai get prosecuted all because the Biddies in town liked the 'perfect' and 'beautiful' Mariasha.

"Why should Kai have to present herself in front of the entire town and tell them all about herself?" he finished with a soft growl in his voice.

"You are most certainly right," Nana replied in an agreeing tone. "It's disgusting what they are doing to the poor girl."

Michael felt himself relax at her reply and sunk back down into his seat, a small sense of pride of knowing that if things got too out of hand, Nana will bring everyone back in line, quelling the irritation a little. "It's all Mariasha's doing, isn't it?"

There was a scoff on the phone. "I really don't know, but most likely."

"Tch, typical," Michael muttered as his eyes narrowed a fraction. "Kai is a private person; she gets defensive when people start prying. Are they trying to run her out of town?"

"Don't give them any ideas, child," Nana said with a sigh before she paused for a moment. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Just had a fight with Mariasha," he replied as yet another wince appeared from the mental imagery of what happened between the two of them last night, a sense of guilt settling in the pit of his stomach when he recalled how angry he felt.

"What did she say?"

"...She mentioned dad again," Michael said softly, swallowing thickly when he thought about his departed father. God, he missed him so much.

"I knew it," came an uncharacteristic hiss. "What did she say?"

"Nothing that held a hint of truth to it," he said with a sad smile. "I'm just sick of her referring to dad like she actually knew him, like it's ok for her to soil his name. It just...urgh."

"I know, I know," Nana said in a soothing tone. "Me too. Where are you now?"

"I'm at Kai's," Michael said as he took a moment to look around his surroundings again, his eyes falling onto a set of curtains he helped put up and a smile appeared on his lips. He then realized that Kai was probably buying paint supplies so he could take the time to be momentarily distracted and not think about Mariasha.

She's so considerate.

"She's in town at the moment, but she said I could stay here."

"Did she now?" Nana said and Michael could just imagine her giving him that knowing smile.

"Yeah, I might stay here for the night, Kai won't mind," Michael said as he stretched in his seat, really making himself comfortable. For some reason being in Kai's presence or talking about her always made him feel at ease. "Besides, she's a good cook. Not one for desserts though."

"Hmm, interesting," Nana said with a soft and light hum. "Child, could I ask a small favour?"

Michael subconsciously tilted his head to the side in question. "What is it?"

"I would like to meet Kai, if I could," Nana said with a level voice. "I would like to visit her."

Michael blinked slowly, momentarily flailing at the sudden request. Never before has Nana asked him if she could visit one of his friends; they usually come over to meet her first. Nana has been his rock since father passed away, yet she'd never force her way into his life. She was always there when he needed her, waiting patiently in the background for a plea of help. But this was new. Maybe...

"Here?" he stuttered lightly. "Now?"

"If I may?"

"Sure, that would be great," Michael said with a smile, his grin growing when he heard the sound of a car pulling up out the front. "Kai's back now. I'll hang up and come get you, ok?" he said as he climbed to his feet, hoping to greet Kai as soon the car stopped.

"Sure, I'll be waiting," Nana said, sounding somewhat pleased. "Don't worry, you're mother isn't here at the moment."

"Ok, see you soon," Michael said as he shut off his phone and opened the front door, watching as Kai stepped out of her 4WD and close the door shut behind her, heading for the boot of her vehicle.

Michael was actually pleased that Nana asked to meet Kai on her own turf as he didn't want her to be ganged up upon by his mother and Mariasha who always invited herself over at the most inconvenient times. It also showed that there was something different about Kai if she caught Nana's attention without first meeting each other first.

"Hey Kai," Michael greeted as he stepped outside into the cool winter air.

Kai turned around and gave him a small, tired smile that instantly caused Michael to furrow his brow in concern. "Hey, you're awake," she said as she gave him a gentle look and folded her arms tightly under her bust. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, much better," Michael replied as he moved closer to her, his concern growing when he realized that she was trembling slightly and wondered whether it was from the cold or from something else...like anger.

Kai's smile became a little bit warmer, pleased that he was feeling better than he was. "That's good."

"Are you alright?" Michael asked as he suddenly lifted up his hand and placed it on her cheek, his frown deepening when he realized that the tattoo marred skin was warm to the touch. "You look a bit flustered."

Kai felt her heart skip a beat at the tenderness of Michael's hand against her skin and she subconsciously leaned into it, her eyelids drooping a little from tiredness. It felt nice having his warm hand against the skin of her cheek, it felt like he actually cared.

"It's a long story," she said as he two of them subconsciously took a step closer, their bodies inches away from each other.

Michael found himself staring into her eyes, realizing that they looked just like cut and polished rubies; deep and mesmerizing. The blue triangles on her cheeks seemed to suit her so well; had it been on anyone else, they would look outlandish and gaudy. But on Kai, they only added to her exotic appearance. He had seen a few fangirls try to pull off Kai's trademark scarf and face paint of different colours, but they all failed miserable. They looked fake and unoriginal. This was Kai's look, something only she could pull off.

Lightly rubbing his thumb along the outline of one of those triangles, he was inwardly surprised that it blended into the soft feel of her skin and he quickly realized that she wasn't wearing face paint...they were real tattoos.

A sense of awe mingled with sadness appeared in his chest when he realized that she must have gotten these as punishment of some kind while in the Abbey, or maybe from her grandfather. Or maybe, she got them as a rebellion to her grandfather.

It doesn't matter how she got them; the triangles are a part of her, not who she was.

A large gust of cold wind sudden appeared and wrapped around them, causing the two of them to shiver. The two then quickly realized what they were doing and abruptly pulled away, light blushes of embarrassment on their features.

"I, ah, I've got the paint supplies for the room," Kai said as she walked to the boot of her car, Michael trailing behind to help her.

"That's good," Michael said as they began to remove the items and placed them on the veranda for future purposes, the awkwardness that should have followed after such a moment between the two of them nowhere to be found.

"Hey," Kai said as she closed the boot and walked over to him, a small smile on her lips, her cheeks still holding a flushed appearance. "I want you to know that not everyone in town is pro-Mariasha."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"Well," Kai drawled as she began to count with her fingers. "The kids fear her, the doctor is indifferent to her, the clerk at the general store reckons she's a headcase and the manager thinks you deserve better."

Michael's eyes immediately widen in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Kai nodded her head once, her smile not wavering. "Yeah, they told me themselves."

Michael remained silent for a moment before a bright smile appeared on his lips. "That's brilliant!" he said, to which Kai laughed lightly.

That truly was fantastic to know. He had no idea that he had so many people against the union between him and Mariasha. Hmm, the general clerk at the hardware store? She must have met Noel. Well, Noel is definitely getting a Christmas card from him this year!

They must be really against it if they told Kai what they thought of Mariasha, but then again, Kai had this aura about her where she could ease anyone into telling her the truth.

Glancing down at his watch, Michael quickly remembered that Nana was waiting for him and he grinned in anticipation at the meeting between her and Kai. He just knows the two of them will get along swimmingly. "Hey, I'm going to pop out for a sec."

"Ah, sure," Kai said in slight surprised, but also a tiny sense of disappointment. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Michael said in earnest as he flashed her another grin. "I need to go home for a sec, but I'll be right back. Is that ok?"

"Of course it is," Kai quickly replied. "You can drop by whenever you want, even if I'm not here."

"Thanks Kai," Michael said as she suddenly walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug, one that was filled with gratitude for all she has done for him. If and when he ever decides to settle down, Kai's the type of woman he could see himself with very easily; considerate, understanding, generous yet strong and passionate about what she believed in.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes," he said as he pulled away and jogged over to his car, calling over his shoulder to her before jumping in behind the wheel. "I have a surprise for you!"

"A surprise?" Kai murmured as Michael started the engine of his car and began to back out of the driveway. She gave him a small wave and watched until his car was out of sight, a soft smile spreading across her lips, her heart fluttering lightly at the thought of what Michael could possibly have planned. "I wonder what that could be."


	10. Chapter 10

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** Ugh, Quizilla? Don't ever go to that God-forsaken site, ever! Full of You-Sues and Mary-Sues, nothing else. Grammar, sentence structure, spelling? What's that? I went to that site once and wished so badly that I could get that time back; it literally made me feel sick to the stomach. God, it was terrible!

Oh, and another thing, I've added another forum titled: Worse OC Encounters. Pop by and let me know the worst OC you've ever had the misfortune to stumble across. I might even use them later on ^^

**AN:** Hello everyone! Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I just wasn't happy with it for some reason, and I'm kinda still squinting at it, so forgive any crappiness.

Nana is quite a dominate character in this chapter as I wanted to show what a real OC should be written like. To me, OCs should be used as support characters with very minor roles only. They should never, ever take the spotlight away from the canon characters as they are the reason we're reading fanfics in the first place, right?

A special thanks to; mimic shalle, DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, The Cattan Wolf, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, angelvan105, van, dragonfire7654321, kaitouahiru, marishka91, XxPhoenix-FirexX and Elemental Gypsy for reviewing the last chapter. Over 100 reviews, that is truly amazing, thanks so much for all your support and suggestions. Please, keep them coming. It's so nice to know that there are other amazing readers/authors out there who are sick and tired of the OCs plaguing this fandom as well.

Comments, rants and suggestions are always welcomed with open arms. Don't be afraid to drop me a line at any time. I hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to hearing from you again soon.

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Chapter 10:

Watching idly as the scenery flew by, Nana smiled softly to herself as she sat in the passenger seat of her great nephew's car, the said teen chatting away about the very young woman she was on her way to meet.

She had never seen him so happy or excited before, well not for a very long time at the very least.

"I'm sure you'll like her," Michael said as he sent her a quick smile in her direction.

Nana returned the look with a quick nod. Anyone who could make Michael this content and happy must be very special indeed. She simply can't wait to meet this Kai person she has heard so much about, even she was getting anxious and excited, inwardly hurrying this trip along.

And soon enough, Michael slowed the car down and pulled into this long stoned driveway that led to the most beautiful ranch she had ever seen. The ranch house itself was large and well cared for, the green pastures crisp and serene. Oh, she could easily sit out on the front porch and gaze out onto the pastures without a worry in the world.

Her eyes were quickly drawn to the large oak front doors, watching with a sense of anticipation as a young woman of about Michael's age stepped out onto the veranda. She had the most beautiful hair, a soft stormy gray at the front that framed her face and then a deep midnight blue at the back, cascading easily down to the small of her back.

Stunning red eyes filled with a sense of curiosity stared out at her, four bright blue triangles marring the porcelain of her cheeks. The tribal type markings looked rather exotic on her, not gaudy or out of place at all, which was quite surprising as Nana was not overly fond of people doing ridiculous things to themselves for attention.

She wore a long white and blue jumper over a denim skirt and boots made of sheep skin on her feet, a long white scarf wrapped around her neck, trailing over her shoulders. She had her arms folded under her bust in attempt shield herself away from the cold winter chill.

As soon as the car rolled to a stop and he turned the engine off, Michael slipped out of his seat and walked over to the passenger side of his car, opening the door for Nana and helping her to her feet.

"Kai," Michael said with a grin spreading across his lips and an arm around Nana's shoulders as he presented his dear great aunt for Kai to meet. "I would like you to meet Nana."

"Oh!" Kai said in surprise, her eyes immediately widening before a soft smile appeared on her lips and she practically raced down the porch steps to greet them. Nana studied her silently for a moment, watching as Kai approached her with a sense of genuine warmth that she hadn't seen for a long time.

It was quite obvious to her that while this young woman appeared confident, she was also respectful, which Nana immediately liked. She quickly realized that there was indeed something different about this young lady and a sense of fondness and familiarity immediately caused her to feel comfortable.

She was also obviously nothing like Mariasha, thank goodness!

"It's so nice to meet you," Kai said with sincerity as she took a hold of her hands, greeting her with a sense of excitement. "Michael has told me so much about you."

"He has spoken to me about you too, child," Nana replied as she patted the back of Kai's youthful hand with her frail, wrinkly one. "It's a pleasure to finally have a face to a name now."

A light flush appeared on Kai's cheeks as her smile deepened with a sense of warmth. "Come inside," she suggested as she stepped off to the other side of Nana, practically leading her inside. "It's freezing out here. I have the fire going."

Oh, sitting in front of an open fire sounded delightful right about now.

"Make yourselves at home," said Kai as they stepped inside, into the warmth of the ranch. She helped both Michael and Nana out of the large winter coats and hung them up, Michael leading Nana into the lounge room where a chair was situated right next to the fire, the very same seat Michael had his much needed rest in.

"Would anyone like some tea or something to drink?" Kai asked as Nana settled herself into the comfortable seat, already finding herself feeling quite at home.

"Tea would be wonderful," Nana said, noticing from the corner of her eye Michael raising an eyebrow in mild disbelief as, normally, whenever she visited another's home, she always asked for a glass of water as she had a particular way of liking her tea.

She didn't know what it was that Kai did, but she didn't feel like she was an intruder or an unexpected visitor, but a welcomed guest. It was quite an extraordinary feeling as whenever Mariasha was over at home and strutted around like she owned the place, Nana felt like an intruder in her own home.

But this...this was nice.

"I'll be right back," Kai says as she hurried into the kitchen, her posture holding a sense of self-confidence in each step she took. But while she appeared confident, there was not an ounce of arrogance in her demeanour.

Ooh, another plus.

"First impressions?" Michael asked her the moment Kai was out of earshot and took a seat on the coach nearest to her.

Running her hands over the blanket that was now wrapped around her legs, Nana smiled warmly at the eagerness in Michael's voice. From the first moment Michael mentioned his new friend Kai, she knew he was rather fond of her, and from what she has seen so far, she understood clearly.

During her many years she had walked this earth, she had met many a person who tried to act sincere and delightful, but they could never get past her eagle eye. She could tell a fake at a glance, metres away. However suspicious past events had taught her to be, she knew young Kai was sincere in her manner and greetings.

"She seems genuine," she replied honestly, to which Michael's eyes brighten with relief.

Young Kai returned a moment later with their beverages, placing the hot tea into Nana's hands quite carefully, warning her that the tea might be too hot to drink yet and then took a seat next to Michael on the couch. They looked natural sitting together like that, Michael looked calm and content, nothing like the fidgeting and muttering mess whenever he was forced to share a seat with Mariasha.

Whenever Mariasha 'accidentally' brushed against him, Michael would wince like a red hot poker just touched him and would scoot away. Of course, that would cause Mariasha to glare at him with disapproval and scoot closer to him. In the end, two things would happen. One, Michael would scoot over so much he'd end up on the floor. Or two, he would jump to his feet and do some random errand, like getting the washing off the line or changing the sheets on his bed.

How could Marly not see the extremes her son went through to get away from Golden Girl, Mariasha?

Sipping at her tea, Nana listened quietly as the two teens sitting on the couch together engage in light, yet comfortable conversation, Michael even telling her a few stories about his childhood and how much trouble he would get himself into. There was some light banter, something they both were engaging in, Michael even going as far as to playfully poke Kai on the cheek and she merely rolled her eyes at him.

It was kinda sweet watching the two as they act like very good friends.

However, it was evitable that the conversation drifted over to Mariasha and her persistence for Michael's attention yet how she was going about it in a completely backward way. Michael grumbled something incoherent under his breath, the annoyance he felt for the purple-haired female this morning starting to return.

Ah, yes, it was no surprise that Kai has heard of Mariasha. It was only a matter of time.

"Yeah," Michael muttered as he quickly glanced in Nana's direction. "Kai hasn't met Mariasha yet."

Kai suddenly stiffened in her seat and looked slightly nervous as she tightened her hands around the cup she was holding. "Er, actually..." she muttered.

Michael whipped his attention toward her as he furrowed his brow in confusion. "You have?" he asked. "When?"

"Er, I've had a chat with her in town," Kai replied as she curled a strand of midnight blue hair behind her ear. "A few hours ago."

Michael's brow furrowed further. "You what?" he said in surprise.

Nana, however, found herself sighing as she knew from Kai's body language, that her chat with the infamous Mariasha wasn't a polite one by any means. "What did she say?"

"It's more what I said to her," Kai mumbled as she continued to fidget in her seat and chewed on her bottom lip. "She stalked off pretty angry."

Michael blinked slowly at her reaction before a smirk appeared on his lips. He knew from experience that Kai had quite an acid tongue and whenever she went off her head, she immediately regretted it, no matter how much the person on the receiving end deserved it.

Dammit, it would have loved to have seen the look of Mariasha's face when Kai had to gall to talk back to her.

"What did you say?" he asked, a sense of eagerness in his voice to hear details.

"Er, well..."

"Go ahead child," Nana urged, also wanting to hear what happened in town. She'll hear about it eventually, no doubt about that, but she wanted to hear the truth first. "I would love to hear what happened."

"Well, she came up to me, calling me a few choice words as well as accusing me of stealing Michael away from her," Kai explained as she once again curled a strand of hair behind her ear. "I then kinda told her she's a hateful and bitter bitch who needs to realize that the world doesn't revolve around her and that she wasn't as highly regarded as she thought herself to be. And I also kinda told her that people will begin to see through her cheery facade and turn against her. She...really annoyed me, to say the least..." she trailed off, a mild flustered look on her face.

Michael stared at her for a moment before the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile. "You said all that?"

"We kinda argued in the middle of the street," Kai continued. "Near the hardware store...in front of a group of people...Noel lingering in the background."

Nana openly stared at the young woman on the seat before her and she could tell that Kai was feeling rather guilty for her actions. She then felt this sense of admiration for the young woman, realizing that she had the courage and belief to stand up for what she truly believed in, and for Michael as well. While everyone else was simply allowing Mariasha to reign supreme over the town, Kai was strong enough to question the irritating woman.

Ooh, the gossip will be in full swing tonight.

But there's only one thing to say to something like that.

"Oh, it's about time!"

Kai physically reeled back in surprise, snapping her attention toward her with her eyes widening in shock. "What?" she murmured.

"I've been waiting for years for someone to finally crack and tell Mariasha off," Nana said firmly as she took a long sip of her tea. "She was in desperate need of a good reality check."

Smiling to herself, Nana couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement as Kai stared at her in disbelief, Michael sniggering to himself on the seat next to her. She abruptly turned her attention to the young man, a questioning look in her eyes, a question Michael answered with a grin of reassurance. Kai gazed at him for a moment, searching his expression with her eyes before nodding and sinking back into her seat with a look of relief on her face.

Suddenly, the sound of Michael's ringtone on his phone pierced the air and Michael rolled his eyes at the noise. "Excuse me," he said as he pulled the phone out of his pocket and removed himself from the seat, the phone pressed to his ear. "Yeah?" he said in a reluctant tone and Nana realized that his mother, Marly, must be on the phone.

Oh dear, she hopes she wasn't giving him another lecture. If she was, they really needed to have yet another chat about Michael and Mariasha, and how Mariasha was playing her like a fool.

A sigh passed Michael's lips as he snapped his phone shut and made his way over to where the girls were waiting patiently.

"Ma wants me home for a minute," Michael explained with a sense of disappointment in his voice and he frowned lightly. "I don't want to cut this visit short..."

"And I'm quite comfy here," Nana said with a frown on her lips as well and gazed off into the roaring fire. She wasn't looking forward to getting up and heading back outside into the cold winter wind. "This is a beautiful fire."

"You'll be coming back, right?" Kai asked Michael as she climbed to her feet to face him more properly. "For dinner, I mean?"

Michael nodded his head quickly. "Yeah."

"Then Nana is more than welcomed to stay here and have dinner with us as well," Kai said with a smile as she turned to look in Nana's direction. "If that's ok?"

Nana immediately beamed at the idea. Now, she knew that Kai here was genuinely polite and sweet. If she had been faking it, which Nana never suspected she was, she wouldn't have offered to let her stay while Michael did some errands for his mother, would she? This was a brilliant turn of events as she could really see how much the two of them meant to each other when they were separated.

"Sounds like a splendid idea," Nana replied.

While Michael tilted his head to the side in question, yet with a knowing grin on his lips, Kai looked somewhat relieved that she didn't turn down her offer.

"Ok," Michael said with a quick nod of his head. "I shouldn't be long. See ya in a tick."

Nana nodded her head and watched with a warm gaze as Kai followed Michael to the front door and helped him with his jacket. It was sweet to watch the way Kai subconsciously fussed over him, making sure he was warm enough. The two then shared a few words and Nana was amused by the sudden likeness to a married couple. If Kai pecked him on the cheek to say goodbye, it wouldn't have been that out of place.

"They'll make a cute couple," Nana whispered to herself as she finished off her tea, listening to the front door opening and then closing a moment later.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Kai said as she returned to the fire place, taking Michael's seat on the couch. "You don't mind if I call you Nana, do you? I mean, I don't want to be disrespectful or-"

"Oh, goodness gracious, call me Nana, child," Nana quickly cut her off as she waved a dismissive hand at her. "We're all friends here."

"That's good," Kai said as a pretty smile graced her lips, her eyes softening with a sense of warmth. She really was a very pretty girl, Nana was sure Michael knew that as well. "It feels like I know you quite well. Michael adores you."

Nana chuckled and nodded her head once again. "I've heard many great things about you too."

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Kai said humbly, lifting her hand to curl her hair behind her ear in a bashful way.

"So, Michael tells me that you're a good cook," Nana said, eager to know a bit more about this intriguing young woman that had gain Michael's attention.

"I can throw a couple of meals together, if that's what you mean," Kai said with a light shrug, appearing a little uncomfortable with talking about herself, which Michael did mention to Nana previously. Still, it was nice to speak with someone that was polite and shy, compared to someone who only talked about how great she was and how insignificant her _future husband_ was.

"I'm not too good with desserts, though," Kai continued. "I've never really had time for them."

A sudden idea popped into Nana's head and she paused for a moment. Normally, she would never consider doing what she was about to do, but there truly was something different about Kai here. Perhaps...

"There's a simple little treat I could teach you," Nana offered. "Michael just loves them."

"He does?" Kai asked as she leaned forward in her seat a little, the suggestion immediately capturing her interest.

Ah, that was the reaction Nana had hoped for. Showing Kai how to make her secret family recipe that she had never, ever taught anyone before should be interesting.

Michael will be so thrilled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** I'm just getting a little sick of reoccurring Mary-Sues. You know the ones that are blatant Sues (I mean, very, very blatant) and the Suthor continues to write stories about them as the main character, bringing in more Canon characters to fall for her or be in awe of her beauty! What really annoys me is when the Canon character (who is the OC's boyfriend from a previous story) has to fight hard for the OCs love while the OC has moments with practically every male in the story. It really pisses me off. Slut!Sues are the worst.

**AN:** Yeah, another chapter from me ^^ This time, we get to see Michael in a confrontation, but not with Mariasha! Who does he argue with, you'll just have to wait and see. Yeah, Michael is finally gaining a backbone, lol!

Thanking you; CleverPhoenix, DarkBombayAngel, kaitouahiru, G-Wing Gurl, mimic shalle, marishka91, angelvan105, van, Nameless Little Girl, Tony, Elemental Gypsy, Blaze Queenie and Rapunzelle for reviewing the last chapter. ^^

Comments, suggestions, rants about Mary-Sue encounters are all welcomed and encouraged. Hope you hear from you all again soon.

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Chapter 11:

A sense of trepidation filled Michael as he pulled out the front of his own house and shut the engine off. He gripped the steering wheel for a moment, muttering bitterly to himself about how his childhood home has become something he dreaded seeing, all because of one person.

He could hardly believe how one person could ruin his life so grandly and do it so effortlessly while gaining the praise of those around her. It just didn't seem possible.

Taking a deep breath to ready himself for the scowling that will no doubt come to him in waves, Michael stepped out of his car and silently made his way over to the front door, opening it and stepping inside, inwardly tense and awaiting the verbal assault.

"Michael?" Came his mother's voice. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Subconsciously, Michael felt himself become tense when his mother stepped out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. She silently took a moment to study him and looked as though she wanted to question him about what had occurred between him and Mariasha last night, but much to his surprise, she restrained herself.

Usually, whenever he got into an argument with Mariasha, his mother would be the first person to jump to her defense, reminding Michael over and over again how much of a nice girl she truly was and how she would make a wonderful wife some day.

Yeah, she was real subtle sometimes.

"You left early this morning," she commented a she approached her son.

"Yeah, I had to do something important," Michael explained vaguely, still feeling and appearing a tad suspicious and tense. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable around his mother, just that the way she always seemed to be on Mariasha's side made him feel a tad hostile towards her.

He loved his mother dearly and he always will; it's just her maternal instinct of wanting him to settle down and to have a family of his really got on his nerves.

Marly didn't seem pleased with that answer, silently wishing for a more accurate answer as she pressed her lips together tightly. Michael realized that she probably wanted to know what he did to upset her precious Mariasha and was still very surprised she hasn't asked him anything yet.

Narrowing his eyes discreetly, Michael noticed that he could see bags under her eyes and a sense of concerned filled him. He then remembered that Nana had a very tight edge to her tone when he mentioned his mother earlier. Did the two of them get into a disagreement?

With Mariasha involved, it was most likely.

"Do you have any idea where Nana could be?" his mother asked before he had a chance to ask about her well being as it was rare to see his mother looking frazzled and tired as she was at the moment.

However concerned, Michael felt reluctant to answer her question directly and gave another vague response. "She's at a friend's place," he said with a shrug.

Marly immediately creased her brow in confusion and mild surprise as Nana never mentioned anything about going out this morning. "Who's?"

Michael gave her another shrug, not wanting to mention Kai's name for a reason he wasn't sure of yet. Maybe he was afraid that his mother might bump into her in the street one day and accuse her of trying to meddle in his _relationship_ with Mariasha?

Kai had nothing to do with his resentment toward Mariasha, so she shouldn't have to put up with such vindictive acts by the biddies in town. She didn't deserve it and the last person on the face of this planet that should be subjected to such _immaturity_.

If the biddies liked Mariasha, that's fine, he could live with that, he has for years. But what he won't tolerate was their cattiness toward Kai.

"A friend of mine, that's all."

Marly blinked at her son's response, taken aback by his abruptness. She paused for a moment as the words of her conversation with Nana the night before crept into her mind. Nana had asked her to pay more attention toward her son and to keep the elderly woman on her side; she decided that it couldn't hurt.

Nana also requested not to speak about Mariasha in front of him, which was a difficult ask as she desperately wanted to know what happened between the two of them last night.

"What's Nana doing over there?"

"Probably plotting Mariasha's demise," Michael muttered under his breath, in a semi-sarcastic tone.

The bitterness in Michael's tone as he muttered Mariasha's name almost made Marly physically reel back in shock. There was so much iciness in his tone, so much resentment that it sent a shiver down her spine. "What was that?"

Could it be that Nana was right and Michael actually hated Mariasha? How did she not see her own son's abhorrence toward his young childhood friend?

"Nana wanted to meet my friend," Michael quickly explained, silently hoping that his mother didn't hear him. "So I took her over and she is currently sitting in front of a warm fire, drinking tea, while having a chat. And they are getting on like a house on fire.

A smile played across his lips as he thought about the two special women in his life, knowing deep within his soul that the two of them are getting along amazingly. His Nana had never taken to anyone so quickly before and the fact that she said that she felt Kai was genuine only proved it.

Nana was not a hard woman to like, but she had a guarded heart and once you wriggle your way in, there's no turning back.

Just like Kai.

"I knew they would," he murmured with a sense of fondness.

"But Nana never..." Marly trailed off having almost dropped her coffee in surprise at Michael's revelation. "What's your friend's name?"

"Does it matter?" Michael asked, immediately feeling protective of Kai. He didn't want her to get involved with another confrontation because of him as from what he noticed today, and despite what she claimed otherwise, the confrontation with Mariasha left her rattled.

"Look, no offense, I need to get back," Michael said with a sense of impatience in his voice and began to fidget on his feet. "We're having dinner together. Is there something you wanted?"

"Oh," Marly said as her heart sunk into her stomach, realizing then when he said 'we', it didn't seem to include her. And that hurt.

How much of her life was she truly missing out on? Was he avoiding her as much as he tried to avoid Mariasha?

"I just wondered if you could do a few errands for me," she said as she swallowed thickly, keeping her emotions in check as much as she could.

Michael found himself squeezing his eyes shut, wincing at the pained expression in his mother's face and in the tone of her voice. He didn't mean to hurt his mother or exclude her from anything, but it's just every time they tried to do something together, she would always bring up Mariasha, which would ultimately lead to an argument.

"Ok," he said with a nod. "And I'll bring you home something to eat so you don't have to worry about dinner, yeah?"

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Checking the list in his hand, Michael noted that he was only needed to buy a few things from the general store and replace a few curtain rods that he needed to retrieve from the hardware store. These errands shouldn't take him very long and if he moved quickly enough, he could take these items back home, get his mother something to eat and then head back to Kai's for dinner.

He wondered if the two women on Orchid Ranch had run out of anything to talk about yet.

Lifting his hand to push against the door of the local hardware store, murmuring voices inside forced him to pause in his movements. He recognizes a few of the voices and immediately frowned. He quietly pushed open the door and peered in, the sight of a handful of locals caused him the inwardly bristle.

Oh, they must be having an impromptu community meeting in the hardware store. After all, this place was near the probably now famous Kai and Mariasha confrontation.

"We need to do something about that Kai woman," a woman's voice practically snarled.

Michael found himself frowning when he recognized the voice to be that of Noreen, Mariasha's number one fan and advocate in this entire town. If anyone dare say a word against her precious Mariasha, there was hell to pay.

And damn, did Noreen have a foul mouth and a short temper!

As anger bubbled in his chest, Michael found himself physically bristling. He just knows that Noreen will pin the whole confrontation on Kai, make her out as being this scarlet woman or something.

"You're right," Noel's voice suddenly spoke up, gaining Michael's secret attention. He was sitting in a chair that was leaning back against the wall, his arms above his head as he appeared relaxed and lazy, which was true to his nature. He didn't like to lift a finger unless absolutely necessary. "She deserves a fucking medal!"

Michael blinked at his outburst before silently sniggering to himself when Noreen spun around and gave him a glare that could have rivalled the look of a raging bull.

"_**What?**_"

"Hey, everything Kai said was true," Noel said as he shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I'm standing behind her one hundred percent. I've been waiting years for someone to finally get the guts to tell Mariasha off. Gwad, she's playing you all like fools. I can't stand the bitch."

The store manager, Simon immediately began to sweat, becoming nervous from the murderous look in Noreen's eyes that was making her twitch. "Ah, Noel," he said as he gave a nervous laugh. "That's probably enough."

Again, Noel gave a disinterested shrug and Michael made a promise to himself to buy him an extra large Christmas present this year. "Hey, I'm just saying," he said in a bored tone.

"Shut your mouth, you lazy son of a bitch," Noreen inevitably snapped, her sickly thin posture tensing, her hands balling into fists. "You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Mariasha is the most loved person in town, you're just too foolhardly to notice."

If the insult bothered Noel, it didn't show as he yawned widely and removed his arms from behind his head and scratched the nap of his neck. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered. "I can see where she gets the idea that being selfish is a good thing comes from."

Once again Noreen bristled while the other surprisingly silent townsfolk stood in the background. "What?" she all but hissed.

"Think about it," Noel continued, either oblivious to the tense and dangerous atmosphere or was completely ignoring it, instead wishing to reveal what was on his mind. "What has Mariasha done for anyone? I really don't see what there is to like about her. Why the hell do you like her so much?"

"She's a strong and confident young woman," Noreen stated as if what she was saying was a well known fact, a biting edge to her tone suggesting that she believes Noel to be an ignorant fool. "She's what every young woman aspires to be."

Noel didn't look impressed. "What, a selfish and egotistical bitch?"

If Michael wasn't hiding and trying to eavesdrop, he would have laughed out loud at Noreen's stunned and highly offended expression. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in disbelief, her posture tense.

Ooh, boy, this will most likely lead to a very Mariasha like explosion.

"How dare you say such horrible things about Mariasha?!" Noreen all but screamed, her face turning an alarming shade of red from anger. "At least she's making something out of herself, which is more than can be said for you, you lowlife slacker!"

"Hey, that's enough," Simon said as he stepped in front of the seething woman, his own face creased in an expression of annoyance. "Noel is merely voicing his opinion; you shouldn't insult him because you don't agree with him."

"Of course, a typical male response," Noreen sneered as she threw her arms into the air as a sign of frustration. "Afraid of powerful women, aren't you?"

"Oh, hardly," Noel snorted, his half-lidded, lazy eyes becoming harder, slightly irritated. "This has nothing to do with her being female, but everything to do with her being a bitch. Don't do into the whole battle of the sexist crap. Why is it that you automatically blame a guy for being sexist when he says something you don't agree with? You really need to stop using your gender as an excuse for everything."

Michael wholehearted agreed with Noel; Noreen did have a habit of blaming men for everything, not matter who or what was involved, it was always a man's fault. Well, with role models like Noreen here, it was no wonder Mariasha was a selfish cow!

"What's so bloody special about this Kai woman?" Noreen asked, practically spitting at Kai's name.

"She's not Mariasha?" Noel said as he frowned at her. "Isn't that enough?"

"So, you're saying she's not feisty and sassy like Mariasha?" Noreen leered at him, a triumphant smirk on her lips.

"Yeah, pretty much," Noel said with a shrug. "She's appears confident, cares about the people close to her and doesn't take any crap. And, also, she doesn't fly of the handle for no reason. So yeah, she's nothing like Mariasha."

"I cannot believe what I'm hearing!" Noreen once again exploded before turning her wrath on the others in the store, appalled that they weren't immediately jumping to Mariasha's aid. "Aren't the rest of you going to speak up? Why are you letting this go on?"

"Because it's true?" Noel said as he scratched the back of his head roughly with his hand. "Look, if Mariasha is so bloody special, name me five things that she's done for anyone, especially Michael. Go on, try me."

Noreen seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyes becoming vague as she shifted through her memories. "I'm sure there's a lot of things!" she argued back.

"Nothing!" Noel said loudly, the usually mellow and lazy male was getting annoyed, which didn't happen often. It appeared that Michael wasn't the only person who was getting sick and tired of hearing about _sweet_ and _kind_ Mariasha.

"She's done nothing for anyone. I mean other than annoy the hell out of you from her constant bitching and self-appraisal," he continued as he shoved his hands into his pockets as he took to his feet. "You know what? I'm out of here. Nothing I can say will make you see the light. But know this, before you start going around spreading lies about Michael's friend, remembering this; there were others present at the showdown today and they know who said what. They know the truth."

Noreen was officially livid. "You see what that stupid woman is-"

Not being able to hear Noreen say another bad thing about Kai, Michael straightened his posture and pushed open the door, alerting everyone to his presence. The tense atmosphere in the room only grew thicker as they turned to him with expressions of surprise and guilt at having been caught.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's sick and tired of what's going on," Michael said coolly as he stepped into the store and walked around the shelves, looking for what he came here for to buy.

"Michael," Noreen said as she folded her arms over her bony chest, a smug look on her face. "Good, now tell these fools here that you don't favour that stranger over Mariasha."

Michael scowled. "I don't favour a stranger. I favour Kai."

"What?" Noreen muttered, genuinely shocked that he said that. "But you heard what she said to Mariasha, haven't you?"

The corners of Michael's lips twitched into a grin. "Yes, I have."

"And you're still defending that abusive woman?!" Noreen all but screeched at him.

"I'm not defending that abusive woman, no," Michael sneered back at her, not caring that if he was being disrespectful. If Noreen wanted to be treated with respect, then she had to first respect him and over the years he has known her, she did nothing but bag him out with Mariasha by her side.

Really, enough was enough. He was 19 years old, for God's sake; he shouldn't have to put up with such shit!

"I'm defending Kai, who is a very good friend of mine and I care about her a lot," he continued. "I would never defend someone as abusive as Mariasha."

"Abusive!?" Noreen spluttered in disbelief. "How could you say such things about Mariasha?"

"Easy, because it's true!" Michael yelled as he found what he wanted and practically stalked over to the counter, where an uneasy Simon stood, a lost expression on his face.

"What are you saying? I can't believe you!" Noreen continued to vent her rage, stomping after Michael as he tried to pay for his purchases. "Mariasha is an amazing young woman!"

It was then that Michael realized that this argument did not have an end. Noreen was just too stubborn to realize that Mariasha wasn't the golden child she made her out to be and that not everyone in this town was fond of her. He could spend all day pointing out everything Mariasha did to annoy him and Noreen here would continue to deny anything that placed her in a bad light.

Really, this _conversation_ was a complete waste of time. This feeling of utter dissatisfaction and exasperation must be what Kai feels every time she deals with yet another demented fangirl wanting to force her way onto the team as an all powerful member or something.

"And you're welcome to think that and if you want to continue to look at her through rose tinted glasses, fine," Michael said with a surprisingly diplomatic tone to his voice before turning around and giving the older woman a hard glare of annoyance. "But don't you dare tell me what to do. I've had enough of women like you forcing me into a relationship with someone I can't stand. Kai is my friend and Mariasha isn't. I will always choose Kai over her. I don't want to hear you say another bad thing about her, you got that?"

Noreen physically took a step back as a stun silence fell over the group, causing Michael to realize that this was probably the first time anyone never knew about his feelings on the whole Michael/Mariasha union.

"Fine," Noreen said in a low voice, seemingly struggling to keep her emotions in check. "But you're making a terrible mistake."

"I highly doubt that," Michael replied with a snort as he grabbed the bag of his selected items and headed for the door in a few long and confident strides. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have a few errands I need to run."

With that said, he walked through the door and into the cool air of the winter wind.

A half-smirk, half-smile played on Michael's lips as he walked down the street to the general store, an overwhelming sense of relief in his chest. He's been wanting to say those things for ages and now that he said then, it felt fan-bloody-tastic!

Nana will be so proud of him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** I've probably said this before, but I hate Suethors who write Kai as an egotistical playboy who flirts and sleeps with anything female, only to go off at you for writing Kai (or any other character for that matter) supposedly out of character. Yeah, having Kai acting like a male gigolo isn't out of character? Please, you might as well stick him in a tutu and make him a ballerina, same shit, different pile, that's all I can say. I don't know how many times I have to say this, but Kai is not a fucking player, you morons! He wouldn't be remotely interested in some perky or bitchy Sue.

**AN:** Hello again everyone. Another chapter from me, again no Mariasha but she will make an (obnoxious) appearance in the next chapter. In this chapter, we see Marly slowly starting to come to her senses.

Thank you so much; DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, mimic shalle, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, angelvan105, van, Miako6, kaitouahiru, marishka91, Tony, Elemental Gypsy and Blaze Queenie for reviewing the last chapter. Hope to hear from you all again very soon ^^

Comments, suggestions and rants are always welcomed. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and don't be afraid to let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter 12:

Once again Nana found herself sipping at her tea, observing Kai quietly from her seat at the kitchen table. Young Kai was currently clearing the kitchen of used utensils and placing them in the dishwasher. The two of them had spent a good half an hour preparing Michael's favorite dessert, Nana revealing an old family recipe. It takes a few tries to master it completely, but although Kai's first attempt wasn't perfect, it was still very good for someone who has never attempted a dessert before.

A warm smile slipped across her lips as she set her tea cup onto the table before her and turned her attention to the young woman in the kitchen. There was one other thing she wanted to share with her.

"I have a confession to make, child," Nana said, immediately gaining Kai's attention who tilted her head to the side in question. "This recipe is actually a secret family recipe handed down by my mother and her mother. I have never taught anyone how to prepare this dish before."

An expression of surprise flittered across Kai's face, her eyes holding a sense of confusion. "Really? Then why me?" she asked as she shook her head almost in disbelief. "I don't mean to be rude or anything."

"Oh course not," Nana replied with a chuckle. "What can I say? I'm a good judge of character. Besides, Michael seems to really like you. You must be someone special."

"Special?" Kai repeated before immediately shaking her head in the negative, totally dismissing the idea, inwardly thinking that the notion is ludicrous. "Oh no, that can't be it. There's nothing special about me."

The modesty in Kai's voice was most certainly not faked, just as Nana expected. The obvious fact of Kai being nothing like Mariasha filled Nana's heart with warmth, knowing that she was right about Michael deserving better and he may have found that someone better all on his own.

She has only known Kai for a few hours, but she knows that she _**is**_ a genuine confident young woman who thought about others before herself. No one could keep up a selfless facade for a couple of hours straight without slipping up at least once, no matter how talented they are.

And the fact that Nana could spot a faker from a mile away also helps cement the fact that she is the perfect woman for Michael.

She always said that love can't be forced or arranged.

"You're nothing like Mariasha at all," Nana said, mostly to herself, but her voice loud enough for Kai to hear, which she did so on purpose. "I knew he would make the right decision on his own."

Overhearing Nana's words, Kai brows furrowed in confusion as she removed the creamy chocolate muffins from the oven. She placed the tray on the stove to cool, removing the oven mitts from her hands as she opened her mouth to question the elderly woman further when the sound of the front door opening and closing caught her attention.

"I'm back!" Michael's voice echoed through the house.

"We're in the kitchen!" Kai replied back, momentarily forgetting about questioning Nana further about what she meant about 'he making the right decision' to focus her attention on Michael as he walked into the kitchen.

Immediately, the two youths caught each other's attention, Kai studying Michael's face for any sign of distress, silently asking him whether everything went alright with his mother. She knew that when he left earlier he was feeling apprehensive about seeing his mother, almost as if he was expecting a lecture of some kind.

However, she found nothing that cause her any concern, in fact he held a sense of achievement in his eyes and Kai can't help but wonder if he had a confrontation with someone and won, getting a few things off his chest in the meantime.

"Hmm, something smells great." Michael said as he drew in a deep breath, walking over to Kai who was still standing near the stove, hoping that he may be able to coax her into letting him taste test a few things from the menu. "I'm getting hungry."

"You're always hungry," Kai lightly teased as she playfully stood between Michael and the food that was just about ready.

Michael flashed her a smile before attempting to lean over her shoulder and steal some food when he paused, his eyes widening in a sense of surprise. "This is-?"

"Don't touch, they're for dessert," Kai said as she swatted at him with the oven mitts, lightly pushing him away.

Michael let her push him away, his gaze still lingering on the muffins gently cooling on the bench-top. "But these are-?"

"Creamy chocolate chip muffins," Kai confirmed for him, a sudden sense of nervousness appearing in her chest at Michael's reaction. "They're not as good as Nana's, but I guess it's not bad for a first attempt at a dessert, is it?"

"How did you-?"

"Nana taught me while you were with your mother."

"Really?" Michael asked as he turned to face Nana who merely inclined her head in agreement, a soft smile on her lips. Michael blinked at her for a moment or two before a grin appeared on his lips as well. If Nana actually taught Kai that recipe, it meant that she...approved of Kai!

"That's great!" he said as he turned his attention back to Kai, who smile softly at him with a sense of relief in her expression.

That relief soon turned to amusement when Michael attempted to steal one of those muffins, prompting a light scuffle between the two of them, Nana chuckling lightly to herself at the scene. Kai had one hand on Michael's chest to push him back, her other hand grasping at Michael's wrist in an effort to stop his hand from grabbing the desserts. Michael, in turn, had a hand against her side as the two playfully fought. It was nice watching the two of them act like the teenagers they are.

_Oh yes_, Nana thought to herself as she took another sip of her tea. _I definitely approved of Kai._

------------------------------

The sun had long since set and Marly was becoming concerned. It was unlike Michael and Nana to be out so late, especially when visiting a friend during the winter season where storms were frequent.

The meal Michael brought home for her, along with the items of her errands, sat half eaten at the kitchen table. The concern and the knowledge that she could be losing her son from her own belligerent means had taken away her appetite.

When did her son grow so distant from her? She didn't know, but it scared her. Their brief conversation earlier today was like a slap to the face. He was defensive, almost weary and suspicious of her. He kept looking over his shoulder, almost as if he was expecting Mariasha to appear and throw herself at him.

And the way he said Mariasha's name; it was so bitter and full of resentment. Hatred didn't seem to be a strong enough word.

The sound of a car pulling up out the front caused Marly to practically leap up from her seat and race over to the door, relieved that she won't have to sit in an empty and quiet house by herself a moment longer.

As she greeted her two family members, Marly was struck with a feeling of self distress as she watched Michael get out of the car and help Nana inside, barely acknowledging her presence as the two laughed about something, Michael appearing happier than she had seen him in a long time. He almost had this glow about him, as if he was content with life at the moment.

In Nana's hands, she noticed that she was carrying a couple of food containers, no doubt leftovers from the meal they had at Michael's friend's place.

"I'm going to have a shower and then probably go to bed," Michael announced as he took the leftovers from Nana's hands and placed them in the fridge. "I'm getting up early again tomorrow."

"You do that, dear," Nana said as she paddled her way over to her seat in front of the fire, settling herself down with a surprisingly look of contentment herself. "I've had a big day; I may have to go to bed soon myself."

"Kay," Michael said as he placed a quick kiss to her cheek. "Night Nana, night Ma."

"Ah, goodnight Michael," Marly said as Michael moved passed her and she watched as he ascended the stairs two steps at a time before disappearing from her sight completely.

Slowly, she turned toward Nana and approached the elderly woman cautiously, almost hesitantly. She perched herself on the edge of the coach, closest to Nana and folded her arms around herself, appearing deeply troubled by what's going on around her.

"Michael told me that you were visiting one of his friends," she said as she tried her best to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"That's right," Nana confirmed as she nodded her head.

"But you've never visited one of his friends before," Marly stated as she chewed on her bottom lip. "You've never been over to Mariasha's place."

"This one is special," Nana said with a sense of defiance, her nose wrinkling at the mention of Mariasha's name. "They are very close, the two of them. Mariasha doesn't stand a chance."

Marly's eyebrows shot toward her hairline. "Michael's friend is a girl?"

"That's right," Nana confirmed again before giving her a mildlt sympathetic, yet understanding look. "I'm not surprised he hasn't told you, though."

"But I thought he and Mariasha-?" Marly stuttered.

"Dear, he can't stand Mariasha," Nana said firmly as she raised a hand to silence her, a frown marring her features. "Are you blind to see that he did everything in his power to avoid her?"

Marly found herself swallowing thickly. "But she's such a nice girl..." she trailed off.

Nana immediately gave her a disapproving look, her scowl deepening. "Keep telling yourself that, dear," she said. "Mariasha isn't the sweet little country bumpkin she plays herself to be. Next time she comes over, sit down and really pay attention to your son's body language and listen to Mariasha's words. Poor Michael feels trapped by everyone else's expectations. Thank goodness for that Kai girl friend of his, at least she's on his side."

A flicker of confusion appeared on Marly's expression. "Who's Kai?"

"A good friend of Michael's," Nana explained as she raised a questioning eyebrow at her, seemingly surprised that she had no idea who Kai was. Everyone in town knew who Kai was, especially now after her confrontation with Mariasha in the middle of the street.

"She's living by herself, fixing up that abandoned ranch and Michael is helping her," she continued, her frown not shifting at all. "For heaven's sake, he's been over at her place all the time. He constantly speaks about her. Hasn't he mentioned her to you at all?"

Marly felt her heart sink into her stomach at the realization that she really is losing her son. "No, he hasn't," she replied sombrely.

Nana shook her head sadly before appearing deep in thought. "Hmm, come to think of it, Kai never mentioned you either when I saw teaching her how to make those delicious muffins."

"You taught Kai how to make creamy chocolate chip muffins?" Marly questioned, all but spluttering in shock and disbelief. Nana's muffins were famous, everyone asked for her to teach them, but she turned every single one of them down!

"That's right," Nana confirmed yet again before a look of warmth appeared on her face. "Amazing young woman, she got it right on the first go."

"But you've never even told anyone the recipe!" Marly said loudly with a sense of indignantly. "You never offered to teach Mariasha."

"Have you forgotten?" Nana unintentionally snapped at her, sick and tired of hearing about Mariasha. Surely, it was possible to have a conversation that didn't involve the obnoxious young woman?

"I can't stand Mariasha, why would I teach her a family recipe?"

"But you don't know Kai," Marly said softly, quickly realizing that she was angering the elderly woman.

"I know her enough to see that she genuinely cares for Michael," Nana replied with a huff. "Not like Mariasha."

Marly found herself unable to defend Mariasha like she would normally do. Instead, she found herself flopping backwards into her seat, a blank expression on her face. Her thoughts quickly turn to Michael and how distant and detached he has become. He would only engage in minor conversations with her now and would immediately terminate the discussion as soon as Mariasha's name was mentioned, claiming that he had something important he needed to do.

Was Michael, her son, beginning to..._hate_ her?

"I'm a terrible mother aren't I?" she whispered as tears threaten to fill her eyes.

"You've just lost you way a little, dear, nothing more," Nana replied in a soft, reassuring tone. "Just pay more attention to Michael in the future; you might even hear him speak about Kai. He does so ever so fondly. I think there might be something between them."

Marly sat a little straighter in her seat. "Really?"

"Call it a hunch," Nana said with a wink. "But I've never seen Michael so happy."

----------------------------------

A full week has passed since her conversation with Nana about Michael and Mariasha, and Marly has found herself watching Michael carefully from afar. She was mildly surprised for someone who wasn't one for getting up early in the morning; Michael has taken up a habit of getting up at the unusual time of 7am in the morning and leaving the house a little before 7.30am.

She knew where he was heading, he was heading to Kai's place where he would literally spend the entire day there and when he came home at night, an hour or so after sunset, he was always in a very good mood. Sometimes, even Nana would go with him which would make him appear even happier.

Nana appeared somewhat more content with life as well after paying a visit to Kai's estate. She would return home with Michael with a knowing glint in her eyes, smiling softly and sharing inside jokes with him.

He was never, ever like that in Mariasha's presence.

In fact, that good mood would immediately plummet, turning him into an annoyed and broody teenager with a chip on his shoulder as soon as Mariasha would make her presence known.

Marly has heard all about Mariasha's confrontation with Kai in the street and about Michael's own argument with Noreen the very same day; the women in town are all abuzz about it. To make matters even more intriguing, when some of her friends told their husbands about what happened, the males all backed Michael and Kai!

She had no idea that Mariasha was so detested in town. She always thought that everyone loved her for her sass and wit, but over the last week, even Marly herself was beginning to doubt Mariasha's integrity.

It was the little things about the young woman that was beginning to annoy her. For starters, the way Mariasha would walk into unannounced and demand to know where Michael was as he's been a jerk for ignoring her. She would then state how she put up with so much from him and how she could do better, how she deserved better and how much she hated the way Michael would make her wait.

Having a conversation with the young woman was near impossible unless it involved speaking about Michael in a very unflattering light or about her in a much higher regard.

Marly has even taken up the habit of pretending to be very busy so she wouldn't have to spend the entire day with Mariasha as her only company. She was truly beginning to understand the entrapment her son felt whenever she or any of her fellow mothers made the two of them spend time together.

And over the past week, Marly had noticed that whenever she overheard Michael share a conversation with Nana, this Kai woman seemed to be the main topic, seemingly unintentionally. He would talk about her without meaning too, simply saying something along the lines of; Kai said this or Kai did something like that once.

It wasn't like Kai was the only thing he talked about, her name just happened to come up in conversation quite a bit.

By Friday night, Marly decided that she needed to get involved with her son's life again, but this time do it in such a way that is unbiased to who or what he talked about. If he wanted to rant and rave about Mariasha, then she would let him without jumping in and interrupting him like she normally would.

It was time for her to meet this new woman in Michael's life.

"Ah, Michael?" Marly said as she found her son rifling through the fridge, looking for a late night snack.

Michael popped his head out of the fridge and popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth. "Yeah?"

Marly had never felt so nervous in such a long time and she felt unsure of where to start or what to say. "Well, I've been hearing much about that new friend of yours-"

"She's not a new friend, Ma," Michael said as he immediately fell defensive, something he always did when he feared that someone was going to say something bad about Kai. "I've known her for years."

"Ah, yes of course," Marly said, stuttering lightly. "I was...I would like to meet her."

That defensiveness quickly turned into suspicion and Michael narrowed his eyes slightly. "...Why?" he asked wearily.

"She sounds like a nice girl," Marly explained as she tried to stop herself from wincing at the blatant suspicion in Michael's tone and posture. "We should invite her over for dinner one night."

Michael took a moment to let those words sink in, still ungodly dubious of the suggestion but soon realized that if he wanted his mother to finally realize that he did not like Mariasha, then her meeting with Kai had to happen sooner or later.

Hopefully, with Nana here as well, nothing overly dramatic will happen.

"I guess that couldn't hurt," he said finally, feeling a sense of satisfaction that his mother might be regaining some of her senses again. "I'll ask Kai to drop by tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure," Marly nodded with a smile. "Be sure to tell her not to bring anything."

"I will."


	13. Chapter 13

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** …Ok, I'm ashamed to admit this, but my first name is Melody, yes, a horrible Sue name. But that's nothing compared to the horror of stumbling across a big, flaming Sue with my name! I'm utterly raging right now, as you can imagine. How dare you, Suethor, tarnish my name like that?! You're lucky I don't know where you live because the real Melody would kick your _**pathetic little Sue's ass**_! …Excuse me while I rage some more. Has anyone else stumbled across a Sue with their name?

**AN:** Hello again, everyone. Here, I have the scene you've been waiting for; the dinner at the Parkers. This chapter is a bit longer than usual, but I guess that's alright, right? ^^

Thanking; DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, angelvan105, van, WhiteFrost, Rapunzelle, XxPhoenix-FirexX, marishka91, CleverPhoenix, kaitouahiru, mimic shalle, Elemental Gypsy and Tony for taking the time to review the last chapter! ^^

Comments, suggestions and rants are always welcomed and encouraged. Please don't be afraid to let me know what you think. Now, please enjoy this new extra long chapter.

* * *

Chapter 13:

"Are you sure she said not to bring anything?"

Michael couldn't help but chuckle and shifted his glance in Kai's direction before turning his eyes back to the road. That was the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes it took to drive to his home that she asked him that question. She was nervous, no question about that, he could easily tell by her body language alone. She was unconsciously playing with the end of her light blue scarf that hung loosely around her neck.

"Yes, I'm sure," Michael said as he reached across and took Kai's hand in his, stopping her from pulling at her scarf. "Relax, would ya?"

"Sorry," Kai quickly mumbled and made no attempt to remove her hand from his, instead curling her fingers around his, whether consciously or unconsciously, Michael wasn't sure. "But you do realize that I am meeting your mother, number one supporter of Mariasha?"

"Yes, I do realize that," Michael said as he manoeuvred his car into the familiar drive way with one hand, refusing to remove his other hand from Kai's grip just yet. "But she's changed."

Kai tilted her head to the side in question. "How so?"

"Well," Michael said as he placed the car in park and shut off the engine. "She walked in on me ranting and raving about Mariasha to Nana, and didn't say a thing."

To anyone else, that statement wasn't that impressive, but after hearing so much from Michael about his mother always choosing Mariasha's side over his, that was indeed very significant. "Really?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, a miracle if I ever saw one," Michael said with a grin.

A smile threatened to appear on Kai's lips, but it was forced back when a sense of nervousness set in again. Normally, meeting someone's mother wasn't that a big of a deal, but she really wanted to impress Michael's mother for a reason she can't quite put her finger on other than to make Michael happy.

"Do you think she'll like me?"

"She won't have a choice in the matter," Michael said firmly as he reluctantly removed his hand from hers and moved himself out of the car, Kai following through her own door a second later.

"Michael."

Michael sent her yet another grin as he made his way over to her side of the car. "Seriously, though, why wouldn't she?" he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her to the front door, his hold on her succeeding to cancel out some of her nerves. "Everything will be fine, just be yourself, ok?"

"Ok."

Opening the front door, Michael held it open for Kai to walk in first and he followed close behind. As he closed the door, he called out their arrival and a woman's voice Kai didn't recognized return the call with a reply that she would be there in a second.

And sure enough, stepping out of a room Kai guessed was the kitchen, an average sized woman with dark red hair appeared with a tea-towel in her hand, her green eyes looking at her with a sense of surprise, almost as if she could really believe what she was seeing.

That made Kai feel a bit self-conscious and she hoped that tonight won't have any hostility between her and Michael's mother, the other woman still believing that Mariasha is better suited for Michael.

"Ma, this is my good friend, Kai," Michael said as he placed a hand on the small of Kai's back and pushed her a little bit closer to his mother. "Kai, this is my mother."

"It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Parker," Kai said, reverting to her personality trait to always be polite to those who are older than her.

"Yes, you too, Kai," Marly said as she seemed to snap out of her shock and smiled warmly at the young woman in front of her. She took a moment to take in her appearance, mildly surprised at how naturally beautiful she appeared; not a hint of make-up to be seen, but still stunning nonetheless.

She was wearing a simple soft woollen jumper that was a dark blue in colour, accompanied by a denim skirt that ended mid thigh, beige boots coming to mid shin on her feet. She also wore a thick winter's jacket to keep the winter cold out, the jacket effortlessly resting to her knees. Her hair, normally out, was pulled back into a loose ponytail, wayward stormy gray tresses framing her delicate face.

"Aren't you pretty?" she ended up saying before grabbing Kai by the crook of her elbow and leading her further inside. "But, please, none of this Mrs. Parker nonsense; call me Marly. Everyone does. Michael, take her coat and hang it up, would you?"

Kai flushed darkly at the compliment, her expression brightening a little when she realized she was granted the ability to call Michael's mother by her name. "Oh, thank you, I will," she said as she shed her coat, handing it to Michael who winked at her with a sense of smugness and was led into the lounge room where a roaring fire was keeping the house warm.

And there, by the fireplace was none other than Nana herself, who immediately noticed her and sent her a warm smile.

"Make yourself at home," Marly said, seemingly already becoming somewhat attached to Kai. She appeared to be a lovely girl and if Nana approved of her, there must be something special about the young woman. She's sure it would be lovely to get to know a bit more about her tonight.

She had ignored her son's feelings long enough; if he liked this young woman as more than a friend, it was her god-given duty to get to know her future daughter-in-law. It would make her son very happy.

"Dinner is about ready, so I hope you're hungry."

"I'm famished," Kai replied, a grin tugging at the corners of hers lips, watching as the woman hastily left the room, but pausing to speak with Michael. She watched as the two family members share a few words; a conversation she knew wasn't a bad one as Michael was still grinning.

"Hello again, dear," she greeted as she waved Kai over.

"Nana," Kai said as she walked over and bent down to give the elderly woman an affection kiss on the cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well," Nana said as she held onto Kai's arm with her wrinkly hand for a moment. "You're looking lovely this evening."

Once again, Kai blushed at the compliment. "Oh, thank you."

"Hey!" A high-pitched feminine voice suddenly called out, the front door suddenly slamming shut. "Where is everyone?!"

Michael automatically recognized the voice and a scowl appeared on his face. "Oh no, what's she's doing here?" he literally hissed with annoyance.

Nana wore an expression similar to that of Michael's, her lips pressed into a thin line of frustration. "Marly and I told her not to come over tonight," she said as she turned her gaze toward the front of the house. "But it seemed that denying her anything is actually an invitation to do the opposite."

Loud footsteps echoed from the front of the house and a moment later a certain purple haired female appear, the ever present scowl of displeasure on her face. "Finally, there you are, you jackass!" She snarled as she stomped over to Michael, her hands curled into fists by her sides. "I've been looking everywhere for you, how dare you just abandon me..."

Mariasha suddenly trailed off when she realized that there was someone else in the room and it was none other than that bitch who verbally assaulted her in the middle of the street over a week ago!

"What is she doing here?" she once again snarled, spitting mad.

Michael immediately took a step away from her and stood by Kai and Nana, folding his arms tightly over his chest. "She's staying for dinner, why do you ask?" he asked her with a sense of defiance.

Suddenly, Marly entered the room after hearing a commotion and looked genuinely surprised to see Mariasha standing in her living room, glaring daggers at the three other occupants who were standing by the fire place.

"Mariasha, what are you doing here?" she asked, a sense of annoyance settling in her chest as she was beginning to become very irritated with Mariasha lately.

The glare of hatred immediately disappeared from Mariasha's face the moment she heard Marly's voice and turned to flutter her green eyes innocently in Marly's direction, appearing like the good and sweet girl she really was.

"Oh, I just thought I'd pop by for dinner," she said with a sickly sweet voice. "I knew you wouldn't mind, you never do, right Mrs. Parker?"

"The table is set for four, dear," Nana said from her seat, her expression only darkening by Mariasha's innocent act.

"That's ok, it's not like I take up too much room or will over stay my welcome," Mariasha immediately retorted as she made her way over to the table and defiantly pulling a seat up and sat down.

"Too late for that," Michael snapped, appearing as though he wanted nothing more than to physically throw her out so he could have a nice dinner with his family and Kai for once. "You overstayed your welcome years ago."

"Excuse me?" Mariasha all but snarled as she took to her feet again. "What did you just say?"

"I'm going to serve dinner now," Marly said, interrupting the impending fight by abruptly turning around and walking back into the kitchen, earning herself a look of shock from Mariasha, aghast that she wasn't immediately scowling Michael for what he said to her.

A smug look appeared on Michael's face as he turned around to face Nana and Kai, helping his elderly great aunt from her seat before taking Kai's hand in his and leading her over to the dining table, rearranging the table setting so Kai was now sitting next to him on one side of the rectangle shaped table, Nana taking the head and Marly sitting next to her.

Then, to Mariasha's surprise, Michael and his family seem to ignore her, instead trying to start a conversation with Kai, Marly actually speaking happily with her as she served dinner.

With a childish huff of resentment and irritation, Mariasha practically threw herself back into her seat and sulkily crossed her arms over her chest. She then glared with utter hatred in Kai's direction, inwardly insulting her, mentally picking at everything she did or say. She couldn't stand that stupid girl; she was the biggest bitch she had ever met!

She thought she was so cool, speaking and joking with Michael and his family. Mariasha really couldn't see what there was to like about her; she had weird hair, freakish eyes, four of the ugliest markings on her face and a terrible fashion sense. She's wasn't even that pretty.

"Mariasha, it's rude to stare," Marly said, in a surprisingly scowling tone to the purple-haired young woman.

"I'm sorry," Mariasha said in a slightly patronizing tone. "I couldn't help but stare at those blue markings on Kai's face," she explained before turning her narrow green eyes in Kai's direction again. "Those are quite a bold statement. What do your parents say about them?"

Kai's gaze immediately narrowed a fraction, her facial expression turning rather tense. "Not much at the moment."

Mariasha immediately realized that she hit a sore spot and couldn't help but let a grin of self-satisfaction appear on her lips. She'll show Marly and Nana here how much of a troublemaker and faker Kai really is. "They don't know? How obnoxiously rebellious."

"Oh, they know about them alright," Kai replied, her whole profile becoming tense this time, as well as the atmosphere in the room.

"And what do they say?" Mariasha asked as she sat straighter in her seat, hoping for some dirt to use on Kai later on, make her pay for tricking Michael and his entire family. "I bet they're disappointed, right?"

A long paused followed and Kai swallowed thickly, causing Michael to cast a look of concern in her direction. "...They're dead," she said simply, yet her voice full of remorse that her parents had to be pulled into this soon to be very ugly argument.

Mariasha wasn't expecting that response and flailed for a moment. "What?"

"My parents were killed in a car accident years ago," Kai explained, immediately earning her sympathetic looks from the other two women in the room and she smile weakly at them. "I'd rather not talk about it."

However, Mariasha wasn't ready to drop this conversation yet. She wanted to see Kai lose her temper, she needed to prove to Marly that her son's new friend was a bitch. "That's why you are wearing face paint?" she pressed on. "Don't tell me it's something to remind you of your parents?"

Kai simply narrowed her eyes further, out rightly glaring in Mariasha's direction. "I don't want to talk about them or the triangles," she said in a low voice.

Mariasha immediately bristled with a sense of indignity at the glare, annoyed that Marly was allowing this to happen. "If you don't want people to talk about those stupid triangles, then stop wearing them!"

"**That's enough!**" Michael yelled as he slammed his hands on the table and heaved himself to his feet, his expression dark with hatred and anger directed at no one else but Mariasha. "If Kai says she doesn't want to talk about it, then this conversation is over."

"I think we deserve the right to know, Michael," Mariasha snarled as she mimic Michael's stance, pushing herself to her feet as well to return his glare with as much venom as she was receiving. She still couldn't believe that Marly was allowing Michael to treat her like this.

What the hell is wrong with everyone?!

"You don't deserve to know anything," Michael hissed back, his hands balling into fists on the table, his jaw clenching shut tightly as he was absolutely furious with what Mariasha was trying to do.

"I can't take them off," Kai suddenly explained, her voice cutting through the tense silence that was hanging in the air like fog.

Michael blinked his eyes and turned to look at Kai, who was looking up at him with her eyes shimmering with a sense of determination. She also knew that Mariasha was trying to do and she refused to yet the stupid, immature woman win. "Kai?"

"It's alright," Kai said with a level voice before turning her gaze not to Mariasha, but to Nana and Marly. "There markings, I can't take them off readily."

Mariasha furrowed her brow in confusion, slightly annoyed that Kai wasn't simply folding to her wit and instead, out-rightly refusing to even look at her. "What do you mean?"

Kai drew in a quick breath. "They're tattoos."

"What?" Mariasha said as she physically reeled back in surprise before letting her face crease into a scowl again. "Now, who would be stupid enough to tattoo their face?"

"Mariasha!" Nana hissed at her, utterly appalled with her current behaviour. She always knew that Mariasha was a petty person, but she had no idea she would go this far.

"It's true, isn't it?" Mariasha snapped at the elderly woman, momentarily forgetting that Marly was in the room as well. "I mean, who in their right mind would so something so ridiculous like that?"

"Yes, who indeed," Kai ended up muttering under her breath, her hand rising on its own accord to let her fingers gently trace the outline of one of her triangles.

"...Kai," Michael whispered. He knew that it was taking all of Kai's willpower not to leap to her feet and punch Mariasha in the face, even though she would be more than welcome to do that. No, she wouldn't allow herself simply because she knew Mariasha was just trying to get under her skin just so she would get such a reaction.

"Are they a gang symbol, or something?" Mariasha suddenly asked.

"Mariasha!" Nana once again said loudly, her face taking on an alarming shade of red, even Marly next to her wore an expression of blatant disapproval. "That's enough out of you!"

Mariasha whipped around the face the two older woman, an expression of utter annoyance on her face that they weren't backing her up. "I'm just asking because I don't want Michael to associate with a gang member that will only get him into trouble," she explained in a way that her actions should have been obvious before turning her attention back to Kai, absolutely livid that she was taking this whole situation so calmly.

It was so fucking annoying!

"Did you get them before or after your parents' deaths?"

Kai drew in another sharp breath. "After."

"Ah, so you were running around on the streets, then?" Mariasha stated, smirking with a hint of triumph.

Kai was not liking this conversation one little bit and she absolutely hated talking about herself and her past, especially when she did not prepare herself beforehand. She hated talking about her past like this simply because she felt that since it was the past, there was no need to dwell over something she couldn't change, but that didn't stop the bad dreams that would always follow when she encountered something that made her remember times she'd rather forget.

Sleep will not come easy tonight, that's for sure.

"No, I was placed in my grandfather's custody."

"Oh?" Mariasha said as she raised an eyebrow in her direction. "So, what does your grandfather think of those stupid triangles? I bet he's disgusted."

Michael knew that Voltaire, Kai's grandfather, was a very touchy subject for her and he knew that it brought back many unpleasant memories, so he was immediately overcome with a sense to protect Kai, even just a little, in some way. "**_Shut the hell up, Mariasha!_**"

"But Michael-!" Mariasha started, her eyes widening in surprise that he would yell at her in such a way. Couldn't he see she was doing this for him and his family?

"But nothing!" Michael growled. "You're really pushing is, you have no right to ask Kai any of those questions. You weren't even invited here tonight."

"You're right," Kai said. "He was disgusted.

"I knew it!" Mariasha said as she smirked, appearing proud of herself. "Being rebellious, were we?"

"You could say that," Kai murmured as she placed her hands on her lap and folded them together tightly, her knuckles turning white from the pressure of her grip. "He gave me these tattoos."

"Kai," Michael said as he sat back down in his seat and turned toward her, concern evident in his gaze when he realized that she was starting to tremble again, her emotions starting to get the better of her. All this stress could not be good for her.

He placed a hand on the back of her chair as his other hand slipped under the table to grasp one of Kai's trembling hands in his, giving her a small sense of comfort. "You don't have to tell her anything."

"But your family deserves to know," Kai said as she motioned to both Nana and Marly with her free hand, her voice thick with barely suppressed emotions as her other hand grasped tightly onto his.

"What do you mean?" Mariasha simpered at her.

Kai shot her a glare that could have frozen lava. "My grandfather was abusive."

Everyone immediately gasped loudly in shock, expressions holding a sense of disbelief, sympathy and utter disgust that her own grandfather would abuse her. And yet, there was also a sense of admiration in both Marly and Nana's expressions; impressed that she has had such a hard life and yet was still this polite and confident young woman. She had a reason to be bitter and hate the entire word, and yet she was instead embracing it and moving on with life.

Now, she's was the type of woman many young girls should inspire to be; completely natural.

"He's in prison now, where he belongs," Kai carried on to say before suddenly squeezing her eyes shut as she drew in a deep, yet shaky breath. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Of course," Nana immediately said as she watch Michael wrap a comforting arm around Kai's shoulders, her scowl deepening when she noticed that Kai was starting to shiver, and it wasn't from the cold. "I am so sorry that someone had to bring up such painful memories for you, dear."

She then shot Mariasha a scathing, withering look, one that promise immediately retaliation if she should say anything else. It's time that something is done about her; she went too far tonight!

"Ah, why don't you and Michael tell me what you've done with the ranch?" Marly suggested to the two teens in front of her, her heart going out to the young woman who was now leaning against Michael for support. "I've heard such lovely things about it."

Nana was right, they are very close. There was definitely something going on between the two of them; Kai was much better suited for her son than Mariasha could ever be.

Speaking of Mariasha...

"Oh, before that," Marly said as she turned to face the outwardly seething green-eyed young woman and she felt her stomach clench with utter detestation she felt for her. "Mariasha, I think you should go home."

Mariasha snapped her head up and looked at her in surprise. "What?"

Marly narrowed eyes in such a way that no one had ever seen before and she pressed her lips into a thin line. "**Now!**" she said in a stern voice that should leave no room for argument.

"But-!"

"You heard her, Mariasha," Nana immediately snapped, she too having lost all patience with her young neighbour. "You've outstayed your welcome. I suggest you go home and think about what you've done."

Mariasha couldn't believe what was going on; they were actually kicking her out! They were supposed to kick Kai out, not her! She was the golden girl of this fucking town, how dare they treat her like this?!

Wait until she tells Noreen what they did to her.

"Fine," Mariasha hissed as she climbed to her feet, her hands clenched into fists by her sides. "I haven't done anything wrong." She then loudly stomped away, storming out of the house in a diva sized temper tantrum.

Marly waited until she heard the front door swing open and then dramatically slam shut before turning her attention back to Kai and gave her a warm and sympathetic smile. "Now, about the ranch?"

Kai gave her a shaky smile of gratitude, inwardly thankful that Michael's family were so understanding toward her and she subconsciously leaned closer to Michael. Despite the way her body was currently trembling from anger, there was this sense of relief in her being as well; she just told Michael and his family a short rendition of her past and yet they didn't automatically reject her.

She also felt a hint of self-pride that she didn't lose her temper and physically lash out at Mariasha. Normally, if anyone mentioned her family or demand to know about her past, she would have punched the said person in the face and kick the crap out of them.

But she was getting a bit better at controlling her emotions and she now felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Well..."


	14. Chapter 14

**Perfectly Incompatible **

**Summary:** A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?

**Pairings:** Michael/Kai

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.

**Warnings:** Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.

**Gripe for the Day:** I have such a major pet peeve for the love triangle cliché where the Sue is in the middle and two friends are fighting each other over her. That just screams Sue to me in every way possible. I especially hate it when best friends fight over her and she bounces back and forth between the two, causing the two friends to insult and beat each other up. I would never, ever come between two friends; but then again I like to consider other people's feelings into matters. Nothing like these egotistical Sues that plague this site.

**AN:** Hello again. Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Was kinda stuck on it for a while. I hope it doesn't suck too bad ^^ Added some nice fluff just for you, anyway.

Thanking; DarkBombayAngel, G-Wing Gurl, MintCa, CleverPhoenix, Tony, WhiteFrost, Rapunzelle, angelvan105, van, kaitouahiru, Emma, marishka91, Blaze Queenie, Nameless Little Girl, Amelie, Elemental Gypsy, Maria101, XxBrokenxBeyondxRepairxX and mimic shalle for reviewing. Much appreciation directed to all of you ^^

Comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter 14:

The dinner after the obnoxiously diva like exit of Mariasha, the whole atmosphere of the dining room shifted immediately into a more relaxed state of frame. Michael was no longer fidgeting in his seat while not-so subtly glaring daggers at his neighbour. Instead was focusing a significantly large proportion of his attention at Kai, who was still marginally jittery from Mariasha's interrogation.

However, things quickly smoothed out and became less tense when Kai and Michael began to inform his family about what alterations they've done so far to the ranch and what they were thinking about doing next.

Kai was slowly starting to open up to them, even sharing a joke or two with Michael, who had been trying to get her to crack a smile after such a distressing start to the meal.

It was actually quite sweet watching silently as Kai and Michael interact. It really showed how much the two of them cared for each other. It also heightened the fact that there was something going on between the two of them...and it wasn't _friendly_.

Working in the kitchen alongside her as she washed up, letting the two teens talk quietly to each other alone, Marly felt a bit of tension coming from the elderly woman and she knows that Mariasha's earlier debacle still infuriated her.

"You see what Mariasha is capable of now?" Nana all but hissed, her usually placid expression, hard in anger at their young neighbour.

Marly, too, felt nothing but a sense of resentment for Mariasha and nodded her head sharply. "I had no idea she could be so vindictive."

"Kai did nothing to provoke her," Nana carried on to say, still deeply agitatedby the whole thing. "She didn't even speak with her at all tonight."

Some of her anger soon gave way to sympathy as she thought about the other young woman, a motherly instinct arising at how distressed Kai was during the first half of the dinner. She could see that was trembling, getting to the point that Michael had to wrap an arm around her shoulders and grasp her hand in his.

Yes, she saw that subtle hint of affection, which told her that Michael knew Kai was going to be upset long before the outwardly signs appeared. To her, it was a small hint of evidence at how much the two of them mean to each other.

Michael was correct in saying that Mariasha had no right to ask Kai about her past, especially in such a patronizing and accusing way.

"I hope the dear is alright," she murmured. "I might ask Michael to stay with her for the night. The poor thing has been through a lot, hasn't she?"

Marly paused in her washing up, her eye holding a faraway look that held a sense of sadness within their depths. She was no doubt thinking about what Kai said about those markings on her face and about how her grandfather gave them to her.

And especially about the confession that she was abused by her own grandfather. How could someone's own flesh and blood do something so heinous?

Then again, what kind of family member would turn their back on their own son, trying to set him up for marriage to a girl he detests with all that he is?

"I can't believe her own..." Marly trailed off, not particularly wanting to finish that sentence in case Kai overheard and she upset her again, especially after how hard Michael worked on getting her to smile again.

She really does have a lovely smile.

"I know," Nana said, as if she was able to read her mind somehow and the two of them lapsed into silence.

"Hey." Came Michael's voice and a moment later, he himself walked into the kitchen, his jacket along with that of Kai's hanging over his arm. "I'm taking Kai home now, ok?"

"Is the dear alright?" Nana asked as she placed down her tea towel and paddled over to him, Marly right behind her to see the two of them off for the night.

"She's still brooding about what happen at dinner," Michael explained with a small sigh before his expression turned slightly bitter and he cast his eyes in the direction of their neighbour's house. "And so am I."

Marly found herself too shifting her gaze through the kitchen window to their Mariasha's house, a tight frown forming on her lips. She might have to have a chat with dear sweet Mariasha tomorrow.

"You should stay with her for the night, make sure she's alright," Marly then said as she averted her gaze back to her son, a sense of parental pride swelling in her chest at how handsome and caring her son had become.

She still can't forgive herself for siding with Mariasha all these years.

"Yeah, I was planning to do that anyway," Michael said as the three of them walked to the entrance of the house to find Kai there waiting with her arms wrapped loosely over her stomach.

She gave them a small smile, one holding a small sense of embarrassment from her previously stressed state and she gave Nana a hug and an affectionate kiss on the cheek before turning her attention on Michael's mother.

"Thank you for a lovely meal," she said politely, despite at having be able to relax slightly in the other woman's presence, she still felt a little bit awkward around her. Maybe it was because her first real meeting with Michael's mother resulted in her getting the twenty questions from Mariasha and her trying to answer them as calmly as she could.

She tried so hard to keep her temper in check, but in reality she wanted so bad to punch Mariasha in the mouth for even bringing up her grandfather. That was the first time in a long time that she had confided to anyone that Voltaire was physically abusive.

"You're welcome," Marly said gently, almost motherly to her. "The next one will be better."

The tension in Kai's shoulders slowly began to leave. "I'm sure it will."

---------------------------

The car ride back to Orchid Ranch was a silent one, yet it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward, the two of them merely taking a moment to mull over the evening's events.

Michael tried his best not to think about Mariasha, as she was not worth the effort, but his thoughts constantly drifted back to her and every time it did, his anger for the purple-haired female grew and grew.

Who the hell did she think she was demanding answers from Kai tonight about her past?! Did she think herself so superior that she would actually get the information she wanted by acting like a total bitch? Kai did not have to answer to her at all; what she chose to wear or do had nothing to do with Mariasha.

It just...infuriated Michael so bad! Mariasha had always, always tried to push herself into other people's lives, demanding to know everyone about them. She once said that her insatiable need to know everything was quirky, but to Michael; it was obnoxious. She could never take the word no and leave it.

Of course not, that would be too considerate for Mariasha to even comprehend.

The only good thing that came out from tonight was the fact that his own mother kicked Mariasha out of the house. His mother was finally starting to see how utterly arrogant and fake Mariasha really is.

"I'm really, really sorry about tonight," Michael said as he pulled up at the front of Kai's house and turned the engine off, the two of them sitting in his car for a moment. "I didn't think she would do anything in front of Ma and nana like that."

"It's alright," Kai said as she lifted her hand and curled her hair behind her ear. "I actually expected her to try something like that. She was trying to get a reaction out of me just so she could prove how terrible I am."

"But it backfired," Michael added as the corner of his mouth threatened to turn into a smirk.

That need soon disappeared, though, when Kai removed herself from his car and he followed suit. He walked with her to the front door, the cold winter air circling them both. He stepped back for a moment to study Kai as she fished out her house keys from her bag, her hands still slightly trembling from the intense emotions she felt not hours before.

Guilt and sympathy made their way into his chest and he slipped in behind her, taking the keys for her surprisingly unresponsive grip. She seemed to sigh and touch her forehead, shaking her head just a little, probably inwardly berating herself for acting so weak at this given moment.

"Are you alright?" Michael asked as he carefully turned her around to face him, trying to look into her eyes to see the truth while concern shimmered in his own. He had his hands on her shoulders in a gentle grip, not holding her tightly in place, but strong enough to let her know subtly that he didn't want to let go.

"Yeah," Kai replied sincerely as she once against folded her arms loosely over her stomach, not at all uncomfortable that Michael was standing so close to her. In fact, the heat from his body was comforting and she was hit with this foreign feeling of wanting to rest her head on his chest and lean against him.

She'd never experience anything like that before, yet it wasn't that frightening. A little unnerving, but not scary; if that made any sense?

"I'm just glad I didn't jump up and punch her," Kai said with a light shrug, the annoyance in her posture slowly starting to lift; Michael's natural carefree attitude doing that to her.  
"Nothing too dramatic happened. At least I didn't run out there crying, huh?"

Michael can't help but smile to himself at the thought of Kai punching Mariasha out. Yeah, he would have paid to see that happen.

"It would be understandable if you did," he said as a sense of guilt appeared in his chest again. "I can't help but feel this is all my fault."

"Don't," Kai replied quickly and sternly, her eyes narrowing a little. "You've done nothing wrong. This is all Mariasha's doing, you know that."

That still didn't help ease the thought that he had caused Kai so much emotional discomfort. She had enough to put up with in life; she really didn't deserve any more of this crap. "But, if you weren't my friend, she probably wouldn't be targeting you like she is," he pointed out.

"It still doesn't make it your fault," Kai retorted sharply again, taking a step forward so they were mere inches apart, she gazing up at him and he looking down at her as she was a head shorter. "She's being harassing you for too long. It has to stop and if I'm the one to do it, so be it."

Michael found himself gazing intently into Kai's eyes, the bright red rubies looking up at him with a sense of determination and defiance within their depths. He became lost within her gaze and let his hands slip down her arms from her shoulders to rest on her elbows, his fingers curling around their lithe arms.

"Thank you," he whispered sincerely. "For putting up with Mariasha for me."

"You're welcome," Kai whispered softly in return, seemingly unable to take her eyes away from his.

Then, without much thought of the consequence, Michael leaned forward and pressed his lips against Kai's, tugging on her arms to pull her closer to hm. It was that moment that all time seemed to stand still, his lips pressed against hers in a gentle kiss.

Experimentally, he pressed a little closer, moving his lips slowly against Kai's in a rhythmic way, his hands leaving her elbows to rest on the small of her back, his arms wrapping around her slender frame. This causes Kai to press her body closer against his, responding almost shyly to the kiss. Her hands rested on his sides for a moment before slipping up his back to grasp with tight fists the material of his jacket.

Michael tried to pull back to see the reaction in Kai's face from the sudden kiss, but as he did, Kai pushed forward in an attempt to keep their lips together. He gave a small smile and tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, nipping his tongue out to run along Kai's bottom lip.

A jolt of pleasure raced down Kai's spine as she gave a gasp of surprise, opening her mouth shyly to allow him the opportunity to deepen their kiss further.

Ever the opportunist, Michael refused to let such an opportunity to pass and removed a hand from Kai's waist to rest on the crook of her neck, tilting her head back just a little so he could curl his tongue around hers, succeeding in deepening the kiss. He had no idea that Kai could taste as exotically as she looked.

How long the two stayed in this embrace was lost to both of them, not that they cared. Over the weeks that they've spent together, they had grown very close, friendship subtly turning into affection. It wasn't until tonight at the dinner and the kiss they are sharing now did they realize how fondly they thought of one another.

Never having felt this strongly for anyone before for Kai and Michael swearing off getting involved with anyone because of Mariasha, they had missed the telltale signs that they weren't just friends.

Slowly, they pull apart, their eyes half lidded from the passionate kiss as they gaze upon each other. A sense of awkward silence fell over them, neither one sure of what they should say or do after something that was so consuming for them both.

However, the winter wind picked up, causing them both to shiver from the cold.

"Do you want to, ah, stay the night?" Kai found herself asking as a dark dusting of red dusted her features.

"Sure," Michael said with a smile. "I'd like that."


End file.
